The electric scooter's battery was confirmed stolen, and Zhao Yan was furious.
The electric scooter had been bought less than a week ago.
After checking online, she found out that a battery cost between five hundred and eight hundred yuan.
She asked the school security guard to check the surveillance footage, but unfortunately, the parking spot was a blind spot for the cameras.
"Alas, this is life," Zhao Yan sighed.
She pushed the electric scooter back.
Upon returning to the shop, Zhao Yan parked the electric scooter and unlocked the door.
She picked up a small stool and began drawing talismans.
Midway through drawing, the wind chime above her head jingled. The wind chime began to sway.
Zhao Yan thought it was a customer and looked up, saying, "Welcome!"
She discovered it wasn't a person, but a black cat.
The black cat, with one ear clipped off, stood at the shop entrance, jumped onto the table, and rubbed its head against Zhao Yan's hand.
"It's you!" Zhao Yan whispered, stroking its little head.
"Has your grievance been resolved?"
"Meow!" the black cat meowed and lay down on Zhao Yan's table.
While petting the cat, she saw Wu Jiaxin jogging into the shop and exclaimed, "Sister Zhao, Jiang Wen has gone mad!"
She had intended to tell Zhao Yan via phone, but felt it was better to tell her in person. She took the bus over immediately after class.
Zhao Yan was somewhat surprised by this outcome: "Is she really mad, or pretending?"
"According to classmates, Jiang Wen was acting erratically in the infirmary. The doctor said her mental state had been severely impacted."
"Some classmates uploaded videos online, and the click-through rate grew rapidly, attracting a lot of criticism from cat lovers. I heard this incident will not only affect Jiang Wen but also her mother's job."
Wu Jiaxin recounted her observations at school to Zhao Yan.
"Some cat lovers have already gone to her house and are splashing paint and throwing feces!"
"Honestly, her whole family probably won't dare to stay in Jiang City anymore. They've been completely shamed."
"She deserves it. How could she bear to harm such an adorable little cat?" Zhao Yan said.
The wind chime above her head kept tinkling.
Zhao Yan looked out the window and exclaimed in surprise, "You've all arrived!"
Wu Jiaxin followed Zhao Yan's gaze but saw nothing.
There were twenty-three cats at the entrance, tilting their heads and looking at Zhao Yan.
The black cat meowed, and the twenty-three cats walked into the shop.
"I won't turn you away. If you have nowhere else to go, you can stay here with me," Zhao Yan said.
"Sister Zhao, who are you talking to?" Wu Jiaxin knew Zhao Yan had abilities, and seeing her talk to empty space in broad daylight made her feel uneasy.
"Talking to the cats that Jiang Wen harmed."
Saying this, Zhao Yan took out an Yin-Yang Talisman and handed it over: "This is for you, no charge."
She noted that while the Spirit Talisman could be used for a long time, the Yin-Yang Talisman only had a ten-minute effect.
Although both were primarily for seeing spirits, the duration of their effects differed greatly.
The Spirit Talisman had a drawback: it would absorb the user's yang energy.
Wu Jiaxin held the Yin-Yang Talisman and placed it on her eyes. When she saw so many cats in the room, tears began to fall.
"They are so pitiful!"
"Sister Zhao, why don't we go buy some cat beds and cat toys?"
Zhao Yan smiled, "Xin Xin, you're quite kind. Alright! Let's go buy them now, and I'll buy a battery as well."
Then she started telling Wu Jiaxin about the stolen battery.
Wu Jiaxin gasped, very shocked.
"I'll investigate for you tomorrow and see if I can find anything."
"Okay," Zhao Yan replied.
She pushed the electric scooter over and went to the place where she bought it to get a replacement battery.
She bought various cat toys and cat beds.
The cost of the battery and the cat toys, when added up, left 10,522 in her bank account balance.
After settling the cats in, it was already past nine in the evening.
Before sleeping, she drew two talismans.
Drowsily, she heard Wu Jiaxin quickly climbing the stairs.
"Sister Zhao, there are many people at the shop entrance!" Wu Jiaxin said nervously.
Zhao Yan stretched lazily, "What many people?"
"There's a crowd gathered at the shop entrance."
Zhao Yan immediately got up and quickly put on her clothes and pants, wondering if they were there to throw feces at her shop.
She quickly went downstairs and looked outside the shop.
Indeed, quite a few people had gathered outside.
"Is it her?"
"I saw her in the video, it's her, no doubt!" httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
Listening to their discussion, Zhao Yan felt a sense of unease.
"Is this person you?" a bald, burly man asked Zhao Yan menacingly.
Zhao Yan glanced at him and immediately shook her head, "No!"
"It's clearly you!" the bald man insisted.
"Then what are you asking me for!" Zhao Yan said speechlessly.
The bald man patted his shiny head and laughed, "As long as it's you, that's good. My friends told me you're very effective. I watched your videos online before, and you really have some skills."
"I need your help with something. My father had an accident before the New Year and passed away suddenly. He had over a hundred thousand yuan in his bank card, but he never told us the password."
"I went to the bank, and they insisted I prove that he was my father and I was his son."
"Isn't it just a matter of proving it?" Zhao Yan pulled up a stool and sat down.
"The problem is exactly that. The bank stated that neither the household registration book nor the village certificate could prove that my father was my father!"
"Then you're looking for me, do you want me to be your father?" Zhao Yan asked instinctively.
"Yes, Dad!"
"Pah, pah, pah!"
The bald man scratched the back of his head. "I heard from online comments that you have some kind of spiritual communication, that you can see ghosts by just babbling."
"So I was wondering if you could help me find my father and ask for his bank card password!"
"Where did you see that online?" Zhao Yan asked.
She hadn't posted her videos online herself.
Wu Jiaxin behind her picked up her phone and said, "Sister Zhao, those classmates posted your story on Douyin. The current click count is over a million."
"Yes, it's Douyin!" the bald man said.
Zhao Yan took Wu Jiaxin's phone and looked at it. On the phone was a video of her searching for the cat's culprit.
Especially the technique of her talisman disappearing with a chant.
Coupled with the subsequent post identifying Jiang Wen as the abuser of the cat, netizens who initially called her a fraud were now exclaiming "Wow, a master!"
"Sister Zhao, I think you should become a video blogger. I heard Douyin has video subsidies."
"If you only sell talismans every day, it's hard to find a target audience, as not everyone has so many troubles."
"Look at it, most people running physical stores are losing their shirts."
Zhao Yan thought carefully and suddenly slapped her thigh.
Yes, she could develop as a video blogger.
This is the internet age, and she couldn't view things with the mindset of an old fogey.
"The current video's click-through rate is increasing, which is perfect for attracting traffic," Wu Jiaxin said.
Zhao Yan chuckled, "Okay, let's do it!"
"Xin Xin, you can come back after school to be my assistant and earn some extra money."
"Can I?" Wu Jiaxin asked excitedly.
"No problem, I think you're quite sharp," Zhao Yan nodded.
"Master, let's discuss your matters later. Can we talk about my family's issue first?" the bald man interjected.
"One talisman is a thousand yuan. If you can afford it, then it's fine," Zhao Yan said.
Five hundred yuan for students was a discount, as they weren't out in the working world yet.