"Lin Qingyu? Who’s that? Do we know her?" Ye Haibing asked, looking completely lost.

"Class Rep, you’re not talking about that drama queen celebrity, Lin Qingyu, are you? The one who’s always stirring up trouble and making headlines?" Gao Zhenyue asked in surprise.

"That’s the one!"

Qian Yu gritted her teeth, her voice filled with obvious disgust.

"Lin Qingyu is causing trouble again? But what does her throwing a tantrum and refusing to shoot a commercial have to do with Song Wan getting fired?" Gao Zhenyue still couldn’t connect the dots.

"It’s because of Yang Qi’s cat, Xiaojiu."

Qian Yu looked at Yang Qi and continued to explain, "That Xianzi Group cat food commercial became a minor hit, so Xiaojiu got pretty famous in advertising circles and with some netizens. A lot of businesses and ad agencies took notice."

"Holy Court Advertising... that’s Xiaowan’s company... they contacted Yang Qi and offered two hundred thousand to hire Xiaojiu for a shoot. Yang Qi, you turned them down, right?"

"Right."

Yang Qi nodded. "I became a permanent employee, so taking on outside commercial work would be a huge hassle. That’s why I refused."

"Um... even so, what does that have to do with Song Wan?"

Ye Haibing was still confused. "Is it just because she’s an employee at Holy Court Advertising? Or because she knows Brother Qi?"

"Exactly!"

Qian Yu replied, her voice seething with anger. "It’s precisely because Xiaowan knows Yang Qi, and they’re old classmates. A colleague at her company who has it out for her somehow found out about this connection. They ran to the boss and snitched, saying Xiaowan’s ’loyalties lie elsewhere’ and she was ’hoarding resources instead of securing them for the company,’ intentionally watching the company lose a project!"

"Wait."

Gao Zhenyue scratched his head, still feeling something was off. "Song Wan’s colleague snitched on her? But Brother Qi refused because he became a permanent employee. What good would reporting Song Wan do? It’s against the rules for a permanent employee to take on private commercial projects..."

As he said this, Gao Zhenyue suddenly stopped. A realization seemed to dawn on him, and his eyes slowly widened as he looked in astonishment at Song Wan, who had been keeping her head down.

"Don’t tell me Holy Court Advertising wanted Song Wan to privately ask Brother Qi to borrow Xiaojiu, to just ’help out’ with the shoot? If no money is exchanged, just a ’small favor between friends,’ then whether he’s a permanent employee or not doesn’t really matter, right? And they could save a huge chunk of money on an animal actor’s fee?"

"Holy shit!"

Ye Haibing caught on as well, exclaiming, "Holy Court is that shameless? They fired her just because Song Wan wouldn’t act as their mouthpiece and refuse to ’help’ them out?"

"Yes!"

Qian Yu’s face was flushed with anger. "Xiaowan felt that doing so would be screwing over Yang Qi. Besides, she doesn’t like that Lin Qingyu either and thought the project was too risky, so she flat-out refused."

"In the end, the boss at Holy Court fired Xiaowan using the lame excuse of a ’negative work attitude, poor relationships with colleagues, and disrupting team morale’! And they only paid her for last month’s work—no severance package at all!"

"Damn it! That’s just bullying!" Gao Zhenyue couldn’t help but curse.

"The true face of a capitalist!" Ye Haibing added resentfully.

Yang Qi listened, silent for a moment.

’Song Wan’s personality is on the softer, more introverted side, while Qian Yu is the complete opposite—fiery and capable.’

’That Lin Qingyu’s reputation really isn’t great. She’s known for all sorts of publicity stunts and drama, and even a legitimate film director like Wu Zhen finds her obnoxious and a headache. But she’s currently very popular, with a lot of rabid fans and high visibility, and some businesses eat that sort of thing up.’

’For Holy Court Advertising to target its own employee just to land a deal that specifically requested Lin Qingyu... one could only say it was business as usual in certain industries.’

"It’s really nothing."

Song Wan looked up then, forcing a smile. "I was already feeling that advertising was too exhausting, and the pressure was immense. I’d been wanting to quit and take a break for a while now. This is perfect, really. Saves me the trouble."

"Taking a break is a good idea."

Yang Qi spoke, his voice calm. "After you’ve rested for a while, if you want to stay in advertising, I can help with a recommendation."

"No, no, it’s okay."

Song Wan quickly waved her hands, as if she had made up her mind. "I’m thinking of trying to become an influencer."

"An influencer?"

Ye Haibing’s brow furrowed at the thought. "There are so many people trying to be influencers now. The competition is fierce, and it’s really hard to make a name for yourself."

"Yeah, you might not make any money at all in the beginning," Gao Zhenyue agreed, thinking it sounded unreliable.

But Qian Yu just smiled and said, "Under normal circumstances, it would be difficult. But... if you have a pet that’s smart enough and has enough character to back you up, that’s a different story."

Hearing this, something clicked for Yang Qi. He looked at Song Wan. "Are you asking me to help you train a pet?"

"Yes!"

Song Wan nodded, a little embarrassed, and said in a low voice, "I... I’m planning to adopt a cat. If you could help me train it, to make it like Xiaojiu... No, even if it’s only half as smart and half as spirited as Xiaojiu, I think people would like to watch that."

Her voice grew quieter as she spoke.

"No problem."

Yang Qi agreed readily.

’Song Wan is attractive and has a gentle personality. If you added a cat that was smart enough to interact and cooperate with her, and they managed their content carefully, it really isn’t impossible for them to become a minor hit on short-video platforms and make a living off the traffic.’

For Yang Qi, it was just a matter of using one Basic Spirit Awakening Technique.

Previously, one Spirit Awakening Technique would consume five wisps of Magical Power, but now two were enough.

"Thank you! Thank you, Brother Qi!"

Song Wan hadn’t expected Yang Qi to agree so readily. She happily shot to her feet, grabbed a can of beer from the table, and gave Yang Qi a cupped-fist bow. Then she tilted her head back and—GLUG GLUG GLUG—downed the entire can in one go, her face flushing only slightly.

"Nice one, Song Wan!" Gao Zhenyue gave her a thumbs-up.

"A true hero among women!" Ye Haibing teased with a smile.

"Haha, it was nothing special," Song Wan laughed. "My dad said I’ve liked the taste of alcohol since I was a kid. Whenever I cried, he’d just dip a chopstick in some liquor and put it in my mouth, and I’d quiet right down."

"It worked like a charm?" Ye Haibing asked, astonished.

...

With everything out in the open and Yang Qi’s promise secured, Song Wan’s mood visibly brightened, and the atmosphere became relaxed once more.

They chatted for another hour or so. Seeing how late it was, Yang Qi, Gao Zhenyue, and Ye Haibing got up to leave.

Gao Zhenyue gave Ye Haibing a ride home, since they were heading in the same direction.

Yang Qi drove back to the Zoo by himself.

But instead of going directly into the park, he parked his car near the entrance to the back mountain.

He still hadn’t brought Ta Xue back from the mountain.

Turning on his flashlight, Yang Qi followed a familiar path into the woods.

The mountain forest was especially quiet at night, with only the rustle of wind through the leaves and the occasional chirp of insects.

He hadn’t gone far into the mountain.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar "SQUEAK SQUEAK" from up ahead, the sound full of happy surprise.

[You’re here too?]

[Your timing is perfect.]

Yang Qi paused, sweeping the beam of his flashlight toward the source of the sound.

["Eight-armed Vajra" detected escaping prison. Host is requested to capture it and return it to the sect immediately to receive contribution points.]