Chapter 323: Not Eating Beef and Lying Flat

“Speaking of which, why don’t you eat beef?” Shi Feizhe asked, looking at the “No Beef” sign.

“Because I’ve had enough!” Master Cat said.

“Had enough? Can you even have enough of beef?” Shi Feizhe was puzzled.

Beef was very popular in the Jianghu because it was expensive and delicious.

“One winter, Ah Ye and I ate pickled vegetables and snow all winter long,” Master Cat reminisced, continuing:

“That spring came early. We caught a strange cow, a bit like a cow, a bit like a sheep. We survived thanks to it.”

“After a winter, the strange cow was also skinny, but it was enough for us to eat for many days, enough for us to survive!”

“At first, the beef was fresh and delicious no matter how it was cooked.”

“Then the weather warmed up, and the beef started to smell.”

“Every day eating beef was torture. But our luck was bad during that time, and there was no other food.”

“Only pickled vegetables and beef.”

“In the end, I felt like throwing up just from smelling beef,” Master Cat explained.

No matter how thin a cow is, it still weighs several hundred pounds. One person and one cat eating it every day, wouldn’t that take months?

No wonder.

“I don’t have anything else for you,” Shi Feizhe said to Master Cat, who was lying on the ground with his limbs stretched out.

“It’s not really advisable to beg here.”

“I’m not begging, I’m performing!” Master Cat corrected him.

“What performance? It looks like you’re selling yourself,” Shi Feizhe said, looking at the words “Big Cat Available for Petting.”

“Selling oneself is also a performance!” Master Cat said.

“. . .”

Hmm. He’s not wrong.

“Have you considered working in exchange for food?” Shi Feizhe said.

“Too tiring, don’t want to work!” Master Cat’s old voice transmitted through his mind.

“Besides, I’m just a cat!” he added.

It’s unfair, making a cat work.

But he didn’t know that where Shi Feizhe came from, there were places called cat cafes, where they used cats to make money.

“We don’t support idlers here, even cats need to be able to catch mice,” Shi Feizhe shook his head.

“I’m so old, and you still want me to work!” Master Cat said angrily.

“You’re a Great Demon, some people have to scavenge for a living when they’re old, it’s much harder than you!” Shi Feizhe shook his head and said.

This big cat is too lazy.

However, as a Great Demon, Master Cat didn’t steal, rob, or force anyone to buy or sell, which was rare for a Great Demon.

Shi Feizhe thought for a moment and said, “There’s a granary in Yangzhou that needs a warehouse manager, it’s perfect for you.”

This job wasn’t tiring and was very suitable for Master Cat to retire.

“I don’t eat mice!” Master Cat shook his head. “Too little meat, not worth the effort.”

“I’m not asking you to eat mice, warehouse managers get a salary every month,” Shi Feizhe said. “It’s enough to support a family, enough to support yourself!”

“Oh?” Master Cat asked again, “Is it more than what I get from begging?”

“How much do you get from begging in a month?” Shi Feizhe asked in return.

Master Cat thought for a moment and said, “About a hundred taels? Not sure, sometimes more, sometimes less.”

“We pay salaries in yuan now, not silver. One yuan is roughly equivalent to one tael of silver, and warehouse managers get about sixty yuan a month,” Shi Feizhe said.

“Sixty! Warehouse manager! That much?” Master Cat’s eyes widened.

A job like warehouse manager, with no technical skills, could earn sixty taels of silver a month?

“Without middlemen, warehouse managers can get a lot.” Shi Feizhe was saying things Master Cat didn’t understand.

“Sounds pretty good,” Master Cat said.

Sometimes, he couldn’t even beg for sixty taels a month.

There weren’t that many rich people in the Jianghu willing to pay five taels of silver to touch a big cat.

Five taels of silver could buy a lot of pork ribs.

✿✿✿

“Our jobs here are paid based on how hard and dangerous they are. Most jobs are between 50 and 70 yuan.”

“But some jobs are hard, have long hours, and are dangerous. There will be subsidies for those.”

“With subsidies, it can reach 80 to 150 yuan.”

“If you’re interested, you can try such a job.”

“Jobs that are dangerous for ordinary people aren’t dangerous for you,” Shi Feizhe said persuasively.

It was a waste to have a Great Demon level cat guarding a warehouse.

“Like what?” Master Cat asked.

“Like a constable! A constable specifically for demon races!” Shi Feizhe said, looking at the big cat strangely.

“After so many years of development, we have abundant resources here, so many demon races are unwilling to follow the rules and like to steal.”

“It’s faster to steal than to work!”

Master Cat nodded in agreement when he heard this.

I stole it with my own skills, why are you arresting me!

Many demon races thought this way.

Because they had always lived this way, just because the new Jianghu was different, they wouldn’t steal?

“These demon races are troublesome and greatly affect the working hours of constables.”

“Your joining will definitely lighten the workload of the constables,” Shi Feizhe said.

“Is it rat demons?” Master Cat said.

“Not just rat demons, there are others, like bird demons, cat demons, weasel demons, and so on,” Shi Feizhe said.

“Constables, with subsidies, can earn 150 yuan a month!” Shi Feizhe added.

Constables often worked overtime, stayed up late, had little rest, and had to fight enemies.

Naturally, such a job was not comparable to that of a warehouse manager.

“It’s indeed quite a lot,” Master Cat nodded, “but I still choose to be a warehouse manager!”

“Why?” Shi Feizhe asked, puzzled.

He still wanted to create a “Black Cat Sheriff” and reminisce about his childhood.

“Too tiring. I’m old,” Master Cat said. “I’m past the age of striving and fighting.”

“I just want to do what I like.”

“And wait for the end of my life,” Master Cat said.

Faced with Master Cat’s choice to lie flat, Shi Feizhe couldn’t say anything, so he just said, “In that case, I won’t force you.”

“You said you’re old and about to die, how long can you live?” Shi Feizhe couldn’t help but ask again when he heard Master Cat say he was waiting for the end of his life.

“Well,” Master Cat thought carefully, “not long. About one or two hundred years!”

“. . .”

“You call that old? You’ll outlive me!” Shi Feizhe couldn’t help but say.

The lifespan of people in the Jianghu was only one hundred and forty-nine years, and his, Shi Feizhe’s, body was already over thirty.

Master Cat could live much longer than him.

“But I’m a cat, and you’re a human!” Master Cat said matter-of-factly.

He wanted to stay here and see this new Jianghu full of human touch.

If lying flat meant survival, why bother working hard?

His young and striving heart was left in the past, with Ah Ye.

Master Cat chose to lie flat in the new Jianghu because he had worked hard in his youth.