Help wanted

"Mm."

Sure enough, faced with Mu You's question, Cola merely nodded mechanically, never taking his eyes off the phone screen.

"All right, stop watching. Time to get to work."

Mu You patted Cola's head, reached over, and took the phone away.

Cola, who had been too lazy to move, like a stone statue, immediately began squealing like a pig at slaughter. "What are you doing, meow? I haven't finished yet! Give me the phone!"

He yowled as he lunged at Mu You, trying to snatch the phone back.

Mu You held his head back with one hand and said expressionlessly, "I have work to do. You can watch tonight."

"No!"

Realizing he couldn't overpower Mu You, Cola hurriedly changed tactics. He sprawled on the floor, wrapped both front legs around Mu You's ankle, and wailed tearfully, "Please, Mu You, let me keep watching! Don't you know how curious cats are? They're about to get to the Chunin Exams, meow! If you don't let me finish, I'll be depressed all day! I might even lose all my fur..."

Looking at the American Shorthair clinging to his right leg and crying his heart out, Mu You softened a little and said helplessly, "Fine... but I need my phone."

He rummaged through a drawer for his old backup phone, switched it on, connected it to Wi-Fi, and opened the Naruto webpage for him. "Watch on this."

"Great!"

Cola cheered and immediately stopped making a fuss. He carefully cradled the phone, tapped his way back to the episode he had been watching with a paw, and resumed watching intently.

Seeing the American Shorthair instantly return to his lazy sprawl, Mu You rolled his eyes and went downstairs to clean.

The shop had been closed for two days straight, so he figured there would be quite a few customers today.

Sure enough, the hamster video he had posted earlier was still gaining views, and more and more people were curious about the pet shop. After being closed over the weekend, the shop reopened today to a queue longer than those of the previous few days combined.

Xiao Ya couldn't possibly handle everything on her own, so Mu You had no choice but to pitch in.

The two of them worked all morning. It wasn't until two in the afternoon, the hottest part of the day, when the sweltering weather deterred many customers, that they finally had a chance to catch their breath.

"Looks like I really need to hire some new staff soon..."

Mu You wiped away his sweat with a wry smile.

He had planned to spend the day studying the Star Spirit Language, but he hadn't managed to find a single spare moment all morning.

"Ding-a-ling..."

Just then, the wind chimes at the entrance rang again as another customer pushed open the door.

"A customer, even in this heat?"

Mu You looked back in surprise, then froze.

A tall, slender young woman had entered, dressed in a simple, pale-colored dress with a sun hat perched neatly on her head.

Both her figure and her looks were exceptional, but what truly set her apart was her bearing. Her posture, clothing, and makeup were all impeccable, and every gesture carried an air of elegance.

Even Xiao Ya, who was also a woman, couldn't help stealing a few extra looks. Only after a moment did she remember herself and hurry forward to greet her. "Hello, welcome! Is there anything I can help you with?"

The woman glanced at Xiao Ya and gently shook her head. "I'd like to look around on my own."

"Of course. Please take your time."

Xiao Ya tactfully stepped aside. Having worked in the shop for so long, she knew perfectly well that some customers didn't like being disturbed while browsing.

The woman who had entered was, of course, Lin Xue.

Over the past two days, she had visited practically every major pet shop in K City. Unfortunately, she had yet to find any trace of the hooded figure.

This was already the thirty-seventh pet shop she had visited. If she still found nothing, even Lin Xue was ready to give up.

The shop wasn't particularly large, but it gave Lin Xue a very good first impression. It was clean and tidy, with fresh air. At the very least, she wasn't greeted by the smell of animal droppings.

The staff's attitude also made her feel comfortable. Unlike the sales assistants in many stores, they didn't latch onto customers the moment they appeared, pushing one product after another until all desire to browse was gone.

After looking around, Lin Xue headed toward the pet supplies section and stopped in front of the rows of shelves, first comparing the product labels.

They looked very similar to the label she had picked up!

Of course, that alone proved nothing. This was one of the most common types of product labels, used by plenty of shops.

What mattered most was the people.

Pretending to browse, Lin Xue walked between the rows of shelves while observing the people in the shop.

After several minutes, she had a rough grasp of the situation.

There were only two people working here, a man and a woman. The girl from earlier was an employee, while the man sitting at the front counter was probably the owner.

Lin Xue focused most of her attention on the man at the counter.

But after only a few glances, she shook her head in disappointment.

Using Xiao Hai's description and the fleeting glimpse of the hooded figure from that night's livestream, Lin Xue had reconstructed his appearance on a computer as accurately as possible: between 190 and 195 centimeters tall, a well-proportioned build, short hair, a lean face, and heavy dark circles under his eyes...

This man bore no resemblance to the hooded figure from that night, whether in height or build.

"Looks like it's not this shop either..."

Lin Xue sighed regretfully and started toward the door.

"Meow!"

But just as she turned, she suddenly heard a cat meow from above.

Lin Xue instinctively looked back and saw an American Shorthair emerge at the second-floor stairs, his tail raised. He first crouched down and licked a front paw to wash his face, then bounded down the stairs, went over to the male owner, and pawed at his trouser leg, meowing incessantly.

"Oh? Boss, is this a cat you just bought?"

Xiao Ya looked at the American Shorthair at her feet with curiosity, wondering whether her boss had changed his mind and decided to start selling cats and dogs again.

"His name's Cola. He's my own cat, not for sale," Mu You said with a smile. This fellow had spent the whole day upstairs watching anime. Only now, when his stomach was empty, had he remembered to come downstairs and beg for food.

"Oh, okay."

Xiao Ya didn't ask any more questions and reached down to stroke the American Shorthair. Rather than moving away, he deliberately tilted his head up to rub against her hand, then lay down, exposed his belly, and began purring.

"Aww! Boss, he's so cute!" Xiao Ya melted instantly. "Cola, are you hungry? Wait here, I'll get you some canned food..."

Watching the American Shorthair shamelessly acting cute and begging for affection on the floor, Mu You's eye twitched. This little bastard was such an opportunist. He had never acted that sweet and docile with him!

Were cats really all born knowing how to charm women?

Shaking his head, Mu You ignored him and pulled up a help-wanted notice he had previously made on the front-counter computer. After a few minor edits, he printed out several copies.

Then he took some glue outside and pasted the notice onto the glass by the entrance.

I'll leave this up for now and see how it goes. If I can't find anyone, I'll post a listing on a part-time job site... Mu You thought.

Before he had even finished putting up the notice, a voice suddenly sounded behind him. "Are you hiring?"

Mu You turned around, somewhat surprised. It was the elegant beauty from earlier.

"Yes. Why?"

"Perfect. I'd like to apply!"