Chapter 40: Majestic and Imposing

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Chapter 40: Majestic and Imposing

Although Mu Yanxiao had already anticipated what “heart-wrenching” things would happen next, the frustrating part was that Grandpa Albert firmly believed there was no animal in the world more intelligent than his Garfield.

So, although Mu Yanxiao had subtly indicated that he could buy the pet language translator, Albert still smiled and said, “Oh, Mu, don’t be so shy! Although I know my Garfield is very smart, I think your Linlin is quite impressive too. At least his fighting ability is much higher than Garfield’s, isn’t it?”

Mu Yanxiao raised an eyebrow at this. Was this old man using his words to mock his Linlin’s intelligence?! This was truly… heh.

“Since you’ve already put it that way, then I should let Linlin try the machine. It will also be a good opportunity to test the quality and effectiveness of the pet language translator. I assume you wouldn’t give this machine away for free, would you?”

Albert smiled. “Haha! Mu, you’re still as perceptive as ever! It’s really not endearing! But you’re right. Although I do like your Linlin, this pet language translator has cost me quite a bit of time and money. Even though I don’t plan to use it to make money, you should at least support the research funding for the improved version, shouldn’t you?”

Mu Yanxiao nodded. “You’re right.”

“Ah, but Mu! If your Linlin can say something in rich and varied language, well, at least as vividly and adorably as my Garfield, then I can give your Linlin a pet language translator for free.” Albert smiled. “After all, whether it’s a smart person or an animal, they deserve preferential treatment, don’t you think?”

Before Mu Yanxiao could say anything, Lin You the lynx suddenly turned around and pounced in front of Albert, meowing twice.

Hurry up and bring that thing over! Watch me give you a recital of some ancient poetry! What do you think of Brother Taibai ‘s “ The Hard Road to Shu ”? I’ll put plenty of feeling into it!!

Upon hearing Albert’s words, Mu Yanxiao knew that the man was happily dancing along the path of self-destruction. He said nothing and simply nodded. “In that case, let Linlin try it. I believe he will definitely surprise you.”

Albert waved his hand, and the butler Robert quickly stepped forward and put the small device on Lin You. It looked like a slightly oversized necklace pendant. The device also came with a small button box, about half the size of a palm. Albert introduced it from the side, “Ah, this little box is the voice selection system. What do you think? What kind of voice does your Linlin want? I recommend the cute boyish voice! It will definitely be adorable.”

“But is your Linlin obedient? When Garfield first wore this thing, he struggled for quite a while.”

Mu Yanxiao nodded silently at this. Lin You the lynx, meanwhile, held his head high with an aloof expression, his eyes clearly saying: Don’t compare me with that stupid cat. We’re not even in the same league, okay?

“Hm, as for the voice, let Linlin choose for himself. I believe he has a voice he likes.” As he spoke, Young Master Mu leaned forward slightly. In truth, his mood was nowhere near as calm as he appeared. The chance to hear his pet’s voice again was enough to make anyone excited.

Lin You looked at the various voice descriptions on the little box, complete with Chinese translations.

When Albert smiled and announced, “Linlin, you can speak now,” Lin You immediately pressed one of the black buttons with his paw.

Then he meowed several times at the pendant around his neck.

“Ahem! This lord has finally been able to speak after holding it in for so many days! Old man, what kind of rich and varied language do you like? How about I recite a few poems for you? Tsk tsk, your fat cat actually thinks he can compare with this lord? Isn’t he afraid of biting his own tongue if the wind blows too hard? There isn’t a single person in this world who can compare with this lord. They haven’t even been born yet!”

Old man Albert, “…?!!”

Fat cat Garfield, “!! Fuck meow!!”

Boss Mu, who had already anticipated this outcome. “Linlin, you chose the cool, domineering CEO voice? Change it. I don’t like it.”

Lin You the lynx, in his cool, domineering CEO mode, held his head high. “Meow! You want me to change it just because you don’t like it? Who the hell do you think you are? What right do you have? Hehe!”

A vein instantly popped on Young Master Mu’s forehead. “Because if I’m in a bad mood, you’ll only have cat food to eat tomorrow.”

“…! Protest! This is class oppression!!”

Mu Yanxiao calmly ‘looked’ in the direction of the deep, magnetic voice that nevertheless had a touch of silliness to it.

Seeing that his blind master really seemed prepared to deprive him of tomorrow’s feast, Lin You the lynx immediately wilted. Reluctantly, he pressed another button, and a remarkably clear and articulate broadcaster’s voice emerged:

“Fine. When we face class oppression, if we cannot resist, then we can only face it. However, the people of the entire country will never forget this moment of blood and tears. One day, we will rise up! We will overthrow the oppressors above us and obtain happiness and peace. And now, here is a news brief…”

Grandpa Albert, whose lips had already begun twitching, “…”

The fat cat, who suddenly felt that his opponent was rather impressive, “…”

“What’s with this ‘here is a news brief’?” Mu Yanxiao was silent for a moment before rubbing his temples and asking.

Lin You the lynx (News Broadcast Version) was also slightly puzzled. He tilted his head and even remembered to blink cutely. “Meow? Hm, that’s strange. I’m not really sure either. And now, here is a news brief.”

Mu Yanxiao turned his head expressionlessly.

Seeing those particularly dark eyes, Albert coughed lightly. “Um, this might be because the Chinese version wasn’t adjusted properly. Let’s not use the broadcaster voice. I told you, I recommend that your Linlin use the cute boyish voice.”

“Ah, but those last two speeches were truly astonishing!” Albert finally reacted. His eyes were filled with amazement and disbelief as he looked at Lin You. “What he said was incredible. He was practically like a real person!”

Mu Yanxiao’s lips curled slightly at the praise. For a pet lover, praising his pet was simply the best way to please him. However, the smile on Mu Yanxiao’s face had barely lasted three seconds before suddenly freezing. His sharp, arched eyebrows slowly, little by little, drew together, and he murmured the words again.

“Practically like a real person…?”

For some reason, those words touched something deep inside him. It seemed there was something very important he had forgotten, and it was related to the word “person.”

At this moment, Lin You the lynx’s hearing had practically been maxed out. When he heard Mu Yanxiao unconsciously repeat those words, his two tufted ears twitched particularly sensitively. Then, with remarkable cleverness, he pressed a certain yellow button, and everyone instantly heard a voice that was especially soft and cute, yet clear:

“Blind Master~ What are you thinking about again? What do you think of this voice~? Isn’t it super cute? Master, mwah mwah! Master, give me a hug?”

This boyish voice instantly swept away all of Mu Yanxiao’s deep thoughts. He shuddered before recovering, then rubbed his temples. “I’m getting goosebumps. Can’t you use a more normal voice?”

Mu Yanxiao felt that Linlin, who could now change his voice at will, was even more troublesome than the crazy parrot Linlin had been before! At least back then, even when he acted like a lunatic, he could only say a few shocking things. But now, he could change his tone and voice in all sorts of ways and drive people crazy… Once again, he wanted to ask Albert, the creator who had designed all these voices for no reason: Does your pet know you’re this crazy?!

So, for the rest of the time, the three people and one fat cat in the Mu Family’s living room listened to a certain lynx enthusiastically test out the various voices one by one. Even Mu One and Robert felt that Lin You the lynx had already gone beyond the word “eccentric.” Instead of testing the voices with “Hey, hey” or “Hello,” he used lines of poetry such as “ My casement veils glowing pools of moonbeams ,” “ His sweat drops and nourishes the grain and the earth ,” “ Lifting my head I gaze up at the gleaming moon ,” “ Peasants still found—-starving, dying .” He had reached an unprecedented level of bizarre and outrageous absurdity.

Just as Young Master Mu was about to reach his limit and couldn’t stand it anymore, the lynx finally pressed a light blue button with great seriousness. Then he turned around and jumped directly into his master’s arms, his tail swishing happily as he spoke in a gentle, jade-like voice:

“Yanxiao. I can finally talk to you again. I’m very happy.”

Mu Yanxiao’s eyes suddenly widened. Then he slowly reached out and stroked the smooth fur. For some reason, his heart was pounding rapidly, filled with overwhelming joy.

“Linlin.” Mu Yanxiao called Lin You’s name. As if saying it once wasn’t enough to express his joy, he called the name again and again, the name that made him feel he was no longer alone, the name that would always accompany him for the rest of his life. “Linlin, you’re back.”

The scene of this man and cat embracing suddenly moved Albert. Yet, amidst his emotion, he also felt rather jealous. What was this?! Did they think they were the only man and cat who could be sentimental?! He had his Garfield too!

So Albert reached out and pulled Garfield into his arms, calling out particularly tenderly, “Garfield, Grandpa’s precious baby!”

Garfield’s reaction was to place both paws on his old master’s face and say with great seriousness, “Grandpa Master! Garfield is hungry! Let’s have lobster for dinner tonight~ Meow~”

Albert’s lips twitched. “…” Damn it, couldn’t you at least give me a touching cry of affection?

In the end, however, Albert kindly accepted his fat cat’s dinner request, while also interrupting the loving display between the man and cat opposite him. “Mu, oh, enough. Stop being so lovey-dovey! I know you two have a deep bond. Oh, and this pet language translator is a gift for Linlin. He’s surprisingly intelligent! He’s practically on par with my Garfield!”

Mu Yanxiao secretly rolled his eyes. This old man would never admit that there was an animal smarter than his fat cat.

“Ahem, but I’ve made myself clear. You absolutely have to pay for the improved version next time! I won’t give things away for free twice!”

“Actually, if you hadn’t made that offer, I would have paid for it automatically.” Mu Yanxiao raised an eyebrow. Did you think I particularly wanted to hear my pet’s crazy, split-personality voices? I already warned you not to do this.

“Haha, all right, all right, let’s not talk about that. How about we go out for lobster tonight? I’m sure my Garfield and your little lynx will both love it.”

Mu Yanxiao thought for a moment before nodding in agreement. Where Albert couldn’t see, he twitched his lips and touched the cuff of his sleeve, which had been dampened by a certain lynx’s drool. Sure enough, his Linlin was incredibly persistent when it came to food, no matter the time, place, or identity.

Tsk… why did he suddenly think of that bandit-leader-looking man who packed up three tables of Manchu-Han Imperial Feast?!

“Aha, since we’ve decided, shall we go? We can take a cruise out to sea, and we can even fish from the deck—”

Ding-dong.

Just as Grandpa Albert was happily talking about where they would go for dinner, the doorbell at the gate of the courtyard suddenly rang again. Mu One quickly opened the video feed, and his face darkened sharply when he saw who was outside.

“Who is it?” Mu Yanxiao asked, his cold voice seeming to already anticipate that the visitor meant trouble.

“Boss, it’s Madam Chen and Madam Zheng.”

Mu Yanxiao’s brows furrowed sharply. His two maternal aunts. Coming at this hour, whatever their purpose, they certainly weren’t here to show concern for him.

“Oh, Mu, it seems you won’t be able to have dinner with me tonight?” Grandpa Albert, being an especially perceptive man, could tell from Mu Yanxiao’s expression that things didn’t seem to be going well.

Indeed, Mu Yanxiao nodded stiffly. “I’m sorry, Albert. Next time, I’ll treat you and Garfield to barbecue. Excuse me this time.”

And so, when Madam Zheng and Madam Chen entered the Mu Family’s courtyard together, wearing expressions that clearly said they had come to demand an explanation, they saw Mu Yanxiao carrying a cat a size larger than an ordinary house cat, smiling as he saw Albert and another cat, slightly fatter than an ordinary house cat, off.

“Hmph, they really will stop at nothing to curry favor with someone important. First it was a parrot, and now it’s a cat? Of all the children in the family, this one is the most scheming. In the end, he actually stole someone else’s things.”

Madam Chen felt a surge of anger whenever she looked at Mu Yanxiao. Thinking about the sudden trouble that had befallen the Chen Family and the assets they had lost, she wished that Mu Yanxiao, this thorn in her side, would disappear as soon as possible!

Compared with the outwardly displayed emotions of Mu Yanxiao’s second aunt, Zheng Yuhu’s mother, Zhang Shan, remained calm. Only after Albert had completely left the Mu Family’s courtyard with Garfield did a sharp glint flash through her eyes. She walked solemnly toward Mu Yanxiao, who was still standing at the entrance. When she reached him, her slender eyebrows lifted.

“Yanxiao, your aunts have come to see you.”

Mu Yanxiao’s face remained expressionless, and he didn’t step aside to let Zhang Shan and Zhang Ya into the house. “It’s been a long time. What brings you here, Aunts?”

Zhang Shan smoothed her hair with one hand. “I heard from A’hu that you’ve gone blind. You seemed to be in good health before, but it seems your condition worsened a few days ago and you were hospitalized? After all, we’re family. Your health is important, so we had to come and see you.”

“What, you’re not inviting us in? Even if we can bear it, can your body?”

Hearing the implication in his aunt’s words, Mu Yanxiao snorted coldly and turned to leave. The corners of Zhang Shan’s lips curled up when she saw Mu Yanxiao’s reaction. As long as Mu Yanxiao still had reservations, her trip here today had not been in vain. However, just because Mu Yanxiao wasn’t speaking didn’t mean Lin You the lynx would stay quiet. Let alone these two aunties, even if Grandfather Mu himself came, the young master wouldn’t have any reservations.

He stretched out a paw and pressed a certain black button.

“Idiots. I was just about to go out for a meal, and now some ungrateful bastards have ruined it. It’s not as if you’re so poor that you need your own nephew to support you. Instead of properly teaching your own sons how to make money, you’ve come here to try to swindle money out of your nephew? What an achievement!”

A domineering voice suddenly rang out. Zhang Shan and Zhang Ya had just sat down when they heard the voice, filled with malice and mockery. Even Zhang Shan, usually so composed, immediately changed expression.

“Yanxiao, who in your household is so ill-mannered? Not only do they not know to greet guests when they arrive, but they open their mouths and spout such malicious, slanderous things. What exactly are they trying to do?” Zhang Shan glared angrily. “And who is this, to think they have such a big say that they can meddle in our Zhang Family’s affairs?”

Mu Yanxiao found this rather amusing. This was truly… He lowered his head and stroked his pet, who was ‘innocently’ playing with the voice controller. Instead of answering Zhang Shan, he said directly, “I wonder what brings my two aunts here? If you really came to visit me, as you can see, I’m doing quite well. You can leave your things and go.”

These words made Zhang Ya and Zhang Shan’s expressions stiffen. Heaven knew they hadn’t brought any gifts to begin with. They had purely come here to demand an explanation.

After holding herself together for a while and ultimately failing, Zhang Ya finally stopped pretending. In the tone of an elder lecturing a younger person, she said to Mu Yanxiao, “Yanxiao, I heard from A’he that you acquired several of the Chen Family’s businesses? A’he said those businesses were very important to him. He was careless and failed to manage them properly at the time. Now that those businesses are in your hands, you’re still his second cousin, after all. I’ll have A’he treat you to a meal, and you can return those businesses to him. After all, your Mu Family is so powerful, and you inherited my father’s wealth and influence as well. It wouldn’t be right for you to set your sights on our Chen Family’s businesses too, would it?”

Zhang Ya said all this so casually, as if she were asking Mu Yanxiao to return not businesses worth more than a billion, but a Chery QQ .

However, in Lin You the lynx’s opinion, even if it really were a Chery QQ, it still wouldn’t be something you could give away for the price of one meal! If that were how things worked, he could treat his blind master to a dozen meals and become a millionaire overnight! So, Young Master Lin showed absolutely no mercy.

“Hehe.”

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