Chapter 74: Either Blessed by the God of Wealth or Possessed by a Lucky Koi

Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Either Blessed by the God of Wealth or Possessed by a Lucky Koi

She was about to go find Brother Zhao to explain the situation, but she wondered if he had already gotten off work like she had. She might disturb him if she called now. It was better to wait until tomorrow morning.

She calculated her earnings for the day: seventy yuan from collecting scrap, which was two yuan more than yesterday, and one hundred and ten yuan from the restaurant and sorting vegetables. Nothing was left over from last time. Her biggest regret was missing out on the massive profits she could have made from the crochet materials.

She swallowed her pride and sought out Li Mei. "Meimei, my crochet material kits are all gone. Could you help me buy some more online? I want a hundred yuan’s worth this time."

Li Mei agreed readily, glad to see such a hardworking kid. "Of course."

Yun Zhen was pleasantly surprised. "Thank you! Let’s get the same big pack with forty-seven colors as last time, but a hundred yuan’s worth!"

"That much?" Li Mei opened the shopping app and swiped to her previous order page. She happily informed Yun Zhen, "Since I’m a returning customer and buying a hundred yuan’s worth this time, the store is throwing in an extra crochet kit for free. That makes five big packs in total! One pack can make eleven to thirteen dolls, so five big packs can make over sixty of them."

Yun Zhen was delighted to hear about the extra pack. "Here’s a hundred yuan. Sorry for the trouble," she said, handing the money to Li Mei.

Li Mei accepted the cash. "It’s no trouble at all. The items will arrive tomorrow afternoon. I’ll take you to pick them up."

After paying for the order, Li Mei also bought a pair of shoes for herself. "I happen to need a pair of shoes too, so we can pick everything up together tomorrow."

"Online shopping is so convenient," Yun Zhen marveled. "It only takes a day and a night to get delivered all the way from out of town."

Li Mei smiled and explained, "Not everything arrives the next day. It really depends on where the shipping address is located."

After spending a hundred yuan on the crochet doll kits, Yun Zhen only had eighty yuan left. It had been days since she was this poor. She planned to buy a kit from the ten-yuan store next door so she could make a few more dolls tonight. By tomorrow, she could earn hundreds or even thousands of yuan. She was looking forward to it so much!

After getting off work, she headed straight to the ten-yuan store.

"Boss, I’d like one crochet kit," she said. Buying one kit would leave her with some spare change, but buying two would leave her exactly two yuan short.

The store owner handed her a crochet doll kit. Yun Zhen paid forty-two yuan, leaving her with thirty-eight yuan.

She then jogged over to the small supermarket that was having a clearance sale to buy some toothpaste and toothbrushes.

"Two-in-one toothpaste and toothbrush sets, nine yuan and ninety cents for ten boxes!" It was the same price as yesterday.

Yun Zhen bought thirty boxes, spending twenty-nine yuan and seventy cents. For her thirty cents in change, the owner gave her three lollipops: one strawberry, one grape, and one pineapple.

Returning to her dorm, she looked at the little cat purring comfortably on the floor next to the heating pipe. She decided to contact Brother Zhao first to arrange a meetup in the cafeteria tomorrow, assuming he had already finished work for the day.

Zhao Peng had just gotten off work and hadn’t gone home yet when his work phone suddenly rang.

Caller ID 666: Yun Zhen.

Even though he was off the clock, he would still work overtime if needed. "Hello, Yun Zhen, what’s up?"

Yun Zhen asked first, "Brother Zhao, are you off work?"

"I am, but I’m still in the office," Zhao Peng replied. "Do you need me for something? I can help you."

Yun Zhen took a deep breath and spilled the beans about the potential thirty thousand yuan sitting in her dorm. "Well, while I was at work, the person sorting vegetables with me mentioned that someone posted a missing cat notice online, offering thirty thousand yuan for its return. I looked closely and realized that the cat they’re looking for might be the exact same one I picked up off the street. I was hoping you could help me contact the owner so they can come take the kitten home."

"What?" Zhao Peng froze.

Yun Zhen had found the cat with the thirty-thousand-yuan reward? He had just scrolled past that video this morning. It was a little calico cat with a distinct black spot near its mouth, lost right here in the city. The owner had posted both photos and videos online. The reward was very real, but Zhao Peng never expected Yun Zhen to be the one to find it.

Zhao Peng quickly pulled up the picture from the missing cat notice. "Wait there, I’m coming over to take a look."

Yun Zhen hadn’t expected him to come over right away.

Zhao Peng drove and arrived at Yun Zhen’s dorm building in two and a half minutes. Panting heavily, he rushed upstairs and knocked on the door.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

Yun Zhen opened the door. "Brother Zhao!"

Zhao Peng craned his neck, searching the room. "Where’s the cat?" he asked.

Yun Zhen pointed toward the heating pipe. The kitten was purring contentedly, rubbing itself against the warm metal.

Zhao Peng held up his phone, comparing the kitten to the picture from top to bottom. The breed, size, color—even the eye-catching little black spot on its mouth matched perfectly!

Zhao Peng stared at Yun Zhen with wide eyes. "Could it be that you actually have the legendary luck of a koi fish?" First, she had won the grand prize of two hundred pounds of pork at the supermarket! Now, she was about to claim a thirty-thousand-yuan reward for finding a missing cat! If she wasn’t blessed by the God of Wealth, she was possessed by a lucky koi. In his twenty-nine years of life, Zhao Peng had never seen anyone with such incredible luck!

Yun Zhen was both nervous and eager. "Brother Zhao, is it this cat?"

Zhao Peng nodded emphatically. "I’ll help you contact the owner," he said. "In the video, the owner mentioned that this cat is a companion to his son, who suffers from depression. It means the world to the child, which is why he’s offering thirty thousand yuan to whoever finds it. Yun Zhen, you’ve struck it rich!"

Brother Zhao was thrilled! Yun Zhen was ecstatic! The thirty-thousand-yuan reward was practically in her hands.

Yun Zhen was generous in her joy. "Brother Zhao, I’ll definitely give you a big cash reward to thank you."

Zhao Peng waved his hands defensively. "No, no, no! I’m just genuinely happy for you. I have absolutely no intention of taking your money."

"But..." Yun Zhen tried to insist.

Zhao Peng put on a solemn expression. "Yun Zhen! Keep this money for yourself. It will be your capital to navigate society in the future. I can’t take it, and I don’t need it. If you keep being so polite, I won’t dare to look after you anymore!"

Hearing the hint of anger in his voice, Yun Zhen murmured softly, "I won’t say it anymore. Please don’t be mad, Brother Zhao." She quickly added, "I won’t give you the money either."

Zhao Peng’s voice softened again. "I’m not mad at you. Just think about it—if I help you and you pay me for it, that’s not helping. That’s a transaction. I’m your guardian, which basically means I’m your parent. What kind of parent asks their child for compensation?" Besides, the organization paid him a high salary specifically so he wouldn’t take advantage of these kids.

Yun Zhen was deeply moved. She understood now. Brother Zhao truly treated her as family.

Zhao Peng found the cat owner’s contact info and pressed dial. "Let’s drop this topic. I’ll contact the owner first so we can secure the reward money."

RING RING...

"Hello?" A young man answered from the other end almost immediately.

Zhao Peng spoke in a professional tone, "Hello, this is Sister Zhang’s Charity Organization. I’m a staff member here, Zhao Peng. One of the children at our organization found your cat. We can add each other’s contact information, and I’ll send you a video of the kitten for confirmation."

The man’s voice filled with pleasant surprise. "Ruirui has been found? Okay, let’s add each other’s contacts first and do a video call to confirm. If it really is our Ruirui, I’ll head over there immediately to pick her up! And I’ll have the thirty-thousand-yuan reward ready!"

They quickly exchanged contact information. Zhao Peng initiated a video call and flipped the camera to point at the kitten.

"Ruirui!" the man called out.

"MEOW~" The kitten sleepily raised her head, licking her paw.

"It’s our Ruirui!" the man exclaimed in delight.

Yun Zhen and Zhao Peng smiled happily.