The restaurant was as silent as the grave.

Kāngnà was stunned, the waiter was stunned, and only Jiālèrt was still casually playing with his smart brain, completely unfazed. After a long while, the waiter finally turned his stiff neck and cautiously looked at the man across from him, “Your Excellency, is it alright if I just add two roasted pigeons?”

To everyone’s surprise, the man, Xióngzi, not only didn’t get angry but smiled gently at him, “Sure, no problem. I listen to my female lord.”

The waiter, a young male, was almost blinded by Xióngzi’s sweet smile. It took him a moment to regain his senses, and he hurriedly blushed and exited the private room.

In the instant the door closed, the young male glanced at the oblivious female bug, who was just focused on playing with her smart brain, and silently gave her the finger in his heart.

Oh, Bug God, why on earth does such a clueless female bug have a male lord, and a handsome and gentle one at that?

It’s just not fair!

*

Kāngnà looked at the female bug across the table, who was still engrossed in her smart brain, and his eyes were filled with coldness.

The flowers for their wedding anniversary could be casually tossed on the ground. The restaurant had been reserved in advance by his aide, and he didn’t even bother to check the restaurant’s signature dishes beforehand.

Chicken, beef—every time they went out to eat, it was always these two. How many star coins did the chicken farm give Jiālèrt to make him so dedicated to eating chicken!

Kāngnà bit his lip, hesitated for a long time, and finally asked, “I forgot to open the gift you prepared for me in the back seat. What is it? I’m a bit curious!”

“I don’t know either. It was chosen by Lái’ēn; it should be jewelry. You’ll find out when you open it later.”

Ever since he became a major general, all the gifts from his male lord had been chosen by Lái’ēn, and they were always very much to the taste of the male bugs. Jiālèrt was very confident in his choices.

The last bit of expectation in his heart finally shattered. Kāngnà smiled self-deprecatingly, unconsciously tightening the napkin on his lap.

He really didn’t expect Jiālèrt to admit so directly that the gift was chosen by Lái’ēn, without even a hint of concealment.

This really meant he had no feelings for him at all.

Kāngnà sneered in his heart and decided to stop pretending. He picked up his smart brain and started surfing the net.

Why not? It’s not like anyone doesn’t have a smart brain!

As soon as he opened the star net, he was suddenly drawn to the trending topic at the top of the list, which boldly read six big characters—”Sūshān Abusing Cats Video.”

Kāngnà’s brow twitched, and he quickly clicked on the topic. The top post was a video of cat abuse leaked by a big influencer with millions of fans.

Although the video was taken secretly and the clarity wasn’t high, Sūshān’s face and his abusive behavior towards the cat were clearly captured, leaving no room for defense.

In less than an hour, the video had been shared over ten thousand times, and the comments were nearing a hundred thousand, shooting straight to the top of the trending list.

Who knows which deity Sūshān offended to have his reputation collapse so quickly?

Kāngnà couldn’t help but smirk, and even the salt-baked chicken that had just been served looked a lot more appealing. If it weren’t for Jiālèrt sitting across from him, he would have really wanted to sneak into Sūshān’s live stream with a fake account to see how the once-glorious influencer had turned into a street rat that everyone wanted to hit.

*

Just as Kāngnà thought, Sūshān’s live stream had exploded. As the biggest influencer in the pet niche, many of Sūshān’s fans had pets at home, and even those who didn’t had a soft spot for little cats and dogs. Seeing their beloved influencer abusing a cat for views, how could they stand it? They all rushed to express their outrage in the live chat.

[How did I not see it before? This guy is actually a cat abuser, bug scum!]
[Bug scum, return all the gifts I donated!]
[How could you treat Aìshā like that? She’s so adorable!]
[The value of Teacher Mángguǒ’s words is still rising!]
[Teacher Mángguǒ? Who is that?]
[A particularly amazing pet communicator who said Sūshān was abusing cats when he was still a small streamer.]
[Stop spamming the chat! The more you criticize the cat abuser, the hotter the topic gets. Unfollow and block is the way to go!]

With a single sentence, the dream bugs were awakened, and the netizens flooded out of the live stream, causing the account’s follower count to drop rapidly.

The silver-haired young male was grinding his teeth in frustration, unable to think of any way to explain, and could only pause the live stream. “What did the company say? Is there any plan for PR to take down the trending topic and control the comments?”

Usually, the agent bug who would call Sūshān “Teacher Sūshān” with a smile now had a mocking look in his eyes. “Take down the trending topic? Do you know how many times that video has been shared and how high the heat is? To suppress this matter, it would take at least a few million star coins. Do you think you’re worth that much?”

The agent bug had never looked down on Sūshān’s cat abuse and had advised him many times not to set up Aìshā as a cat PhD, but Sūshān just wouldn’t listen, stubbornly pursuing views.

Sūshān had been raking in money for the company with his millions of fans, and the higher-ups had given him some leeway. The agent bug didn’t dare to confront him directly and could only watch helplessly as Aìshā cried under Sūshān’s whip. Now that Sūshān’s reputation was collapsing, he could finally take revenge for Aìshā.

Sūshān collapsed onto the sofa, trembling lips asking, “What do you mean by that?”

The agent bug rolled his eyes. “Isn’t it clear enough? Just wait for the company’s contract termination notice.”

The room fell silent, and the few assistants didn’t dare to speak. Only Aìshā, completely unaware, blinked her round golden eyes, squatting on the ground and playing with a toy ball.

Roll, roll, roll…

The sound of the plastic ball rolling on the floor was particularly pronounced.

The silver-haired young male frowned tightly, looking at the carefree little cat. Suddenly, he stood up from the sofa and shouted, “It’s all your fault! If you could understand bug language, I wouldn’t have been exposed for abusing cats!”

Sūshān roared as he rushed over, grabbing a steel ruler from the table, ready to smash it down on Aìshā. He was caught off guard when the agent bug grabbed his wrist.

“What are you doing? It’s my cat; I can’t hit her? I’m going to make her pay today!”

“Your cat?” The agent bug sneered, pulling the trembling Aìshā into his arms. “Have you forgotten? The contract states that pets appearing in the live stream of pet influencers belong to the company.”

As he spoke, the agent bug gently patted the three-colored cat’s head. “Good girl, come with your brother. I’ll get you a better litter box attendant.”

*

Sūshān’s collapse was too sudden. A large number of netizens who flooded out of his live stream were now aimlessly hanging around the star net, munching on popcorn.

No one knew which class representative had posted the clips of Kāngnà subtly hinting at Sūshān’s cat abuse live stream on the star net, but this group of netizens quickly followed the link into Kāngnà’s live stream.

So, when Lǎolā was just frantically feeding three little cubs with goat milk and kitten food, she looked up and saw the number of online viewers in the live stream jump from 1,000+ to 100,000.

The male bug, still holding the milk bottle, was stunned.

Was the bug entertainment collapsing, or was he seeing things? How could so many bugs suddenly come in!

However, the rapidly scrolling comments and various gift effects confirmed that the bug entertainment hadn’t collapsed, and his eyes weren’t deceiving him; indeed, over a hundred thousand netizens had entered.

[Ahhh, Teacher Mángguǒ’s little nose is so cute! Let uncle give it a kiss!]
[Not to mention, Teacher Mángguǒ is the real cat lover!]
[Exactly, little kittens should just eat and sleep. Why teach them so much?]
[Agreed!]

The three little kittens, having eaten their fill, stretched lazily and stumbled into their castle bed, huddling together and quickly falling asleep.

Lǎolā sat beside them, her smart brain focused on the big ball of yarn made of black, white, and yellow, saying nothing, just quietly streaming the little kittens sleeping.

In just two hours, the number of viewers in the live stream plummeted from over 100,000 to 1,000, only to suddenly soar back up to nearly 200,000. Lǎolā felt her heart was as calm as water, having reached a state of not being affected by external things.

The world is vast, but the little cubs sleeping is the most important thing. Streaming? Whatever.

However, Lǎolā didn’t expect that after the little kittens fell asleep, the number of viewers in the live stream not only didn’t decrease but actually kept increasing.

[The little kittens are so happy!]
[A warm nest, a stable emotional litter box attendant, and delicious food—who wouldn’t be happy?]
[Teacher Mángguǒ, do you need a 140-pound big cat? I’m looking to adopt. I can do math problems and distinguish between chocolate and coffee-flavored snacks!]
[Suddenly feel that Teacher Mángguǒ is very gentle. Look at him, not saying a word, afraid of disturbing the kittens’ sleep.]
[Gentle yet powerful, he’s my dream bug!]

Inside the wooden castle, the cream-colored mattress was covered with a layer of soft fluff, looking warm and comfortable. The three little kittens curled up into a small ball, snoring softly.

The new viewers, although unsure why the kittens sleeping could attract 200,000 viewers, were soon infected by this magical atmosphere and couldn’t leave.

The points in the live stream kept increasing, and finally, just before eight o’clock, it surpassed Sūshān, becoming number one!

*

Jiālèrt was eating while watching his smart brain. When he saw Teacher Mángguǒ take the first place in the pet live streaming competition, a smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

He opened the bug entertainment app and sent a congratulatory message to Teacher Mángguǒ.

Kāngnà was gnawing on the roasted pigeon when he looked up and saw the female bug seemingly messaging someone, a hint of a smile on his otherwise stern face.

It must be with the Third Prince.

Kāngnà felt a bit irritated and furrowed his brows, feeling the air in the private room was so oppressive it was hard to breathe. He put down his chopsticks and stood up, “I’m going to the restroom.”

Jiālèrt was completely unaware that his male lord was already angry. He nodded, closed his smart brain, and dumped all four bowls of rice onto his plate, wolfing down the beef brisket.

Kāngnà stepped out of the private room and stood on the terrace, taking several deep breaths before feeling the fire in his chest ease a little.

As for the reason for his frustration, it had nothing to do with love. After Jiālèrt had put poison in his water cup, he no longer had any feelings for Jiālèrt.

He was purely disgusted by the anniversary gift prepared by the female bug, and the most crucial part was that he had to cooperate throughout to maintain his model male bug persona.

Fortunately, he had saved enough for the ticket money, and he would soon be free!

Kāngnà talked to himself on the terrace for a while before finally managing to calm himself down. He put on a standard smile and just as he walked to the door of the private room, he saw a beautifully dressed male bug walking towards him.

“Are you Lord Kāngnà? What a coincidence.” The male bug walked a few steps closer, smiling as he extended his hand, “Let me introduce myself. I am the Third Son of the Bug Emperor, Huò’ěr · Ājīlā’ěr.”