The System nearly shed two lines of tears. Alas, now that it could finally have a physical body, it couldn’t easily switch back to its formless state unless a day had passed.

Currently, its host’s devilish little hand was dangerously close to a certain area where the sun doesn’t shine.

[System? I know it. It must have been you!] Xiao Qingya let out a happy giggle, but she didn’t retract her hand from the white cat.

[Host, get your hand away, please!] The System begged her.

Xiao Qingya pretended to be dumb. [Why?]

[It’s animal abuse, it’s bad!] The System patiently explained.

The little one was confused. [I just want to check your gender. Why is it animal abuse?]

Her words made the System stumped. It has no gender when it was in the formless state, but now it was suddenly curious. Will it be a male or female now that it has a physical body?

Seeing the System become silent, Xiao Qingya suddenly let go.

The System was both curious and flustered. It also wanted to know, but... in order to check, it would need to look at something down below, right?

It was suddenly wondering whether picking a cat as its physical form was a good choice. Some cats licked their... certain parts. Would it have such an urge too in the future?

It had chosen a cat because they were cute, and it was sure Xiao Qingya would like it.

While the System was having an existential crisis, the door was suddenly opened, startling both the cat and the little one who was busily poking on its belly.

"Second Brother!" Xiao Qingya called out, abandoning the cat.

Xiao Fenghao picked up his little sister and looked at the cat. He walked over and lifted its tail. "What is this male cat doing here?"

The System widened its cat eyes. What a pervert!

Upon entering the room, the first thing this stupid Xiao Fenghao did was to check its gender. The System felt that its innocence had been violated!

It got up and started hissing at Xiao Fenghao, the claws nearly tore at his hand had he been one step late in avoiding it.

"What an unfriendly cat! We should get rid of it." Xiao Fenghao muttered in a displeased tone.

Xiao Qingya tugged on his sleeve and hurriedly shook her head. "No, Brother!"

[System, my second brother is now angry...]

The System clicked its tongue. [Who told him to not even let a cat go?]

Xiao Fenghao was taken aback. This cat is actually the System their little sister had been talking to this whole time?

He couldn’t help but study it, his anger dissipating. This cat was still rather small, enough for Xiao Qingya to hug and carry around in her arms.

"Does Little Ya want to keep this cat?" He asked, already grabbing the unsuspecting System who hadn’t gotten quite used to its new body yet.

The little one nodded furiously. "Keep it!"

"But this cat needs to behave. It can’t poop or pee anywhere it wishes. Most importantly, it can’t hurt anyone with its claws without proper reason," Xiao Fenghao deliberately said this to the System to hear, listing a few embarrassing things it might do in the future as precaution.

Xiao Qingya grabbed her brother’s arm and reassured him. "Don’t worry, Brother... I-I will... teach it!" 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Her voice was full of anxiety, as if she would cry if Xiao Fenghao were to throw the cat away.

The System wanted to bite Xiao Fenghao in anger, but it was worried the latter might do something to its physical body, so it could only swallow its anger and suffer in silence.

It had been so excited at the prospect of having a physical body that it didn’t consider the disadvantages thoroughly. The System wasn’t sure what would happen if its current physical body were to die.

In order to get rid of these disadvantages, it seemed that the System had to work harder to help its host earn more points!

Once it received some upgrades, it would definitely be a helpful protector for Xiao Qingya!

Xiao Fenghao brought the white cat and his youngest sister to the living room, where his family had gathered. He cleared his throat and signalled something to their mother.

"Is that a cat?" Xiao Yuxi stared at the cat with some doubts.

[Tsk, look at their faces. It’s as if it’s the first time they have seen a cat!] The System’s proud voice echoed.

Xiao Qingya flicked its head gently. [Behave yourself.]

[Fine, fine.] The System grumbled.

Everyone had a surprised look on their faces. The System now has a physical body?

Xiao Qingya thought that they were amazed by the cat’s cute appearance, so she tugged at her second brother’s sleeve, wanting to go down.

Once Xiao Fenghao let her down, she showed the cat to Zhou Anran and the rest of her siblings. She even let them pet the cat, earning the System’s unwilling whine.

After she was done, the cat perched on Xiao Qingya’s shoulder, unwilling to let Xiao Yuxi or anyone else touch it.

The Xiao family took a while before they processed the fact that the System finally had a physical body. They thought that it was actually a good thing. The cat was smart and it might be useful for Xiao Qingya to have it around.

Zhou Wenzhi visited their house at noon, right after they had finished lunch. As soon as he got inside, he turned to his two grandsons. "Have you had lunch? If you haven’t, go eat something first. We will go to the back mountain after you are all finished."

"Grandfather, we already ate. Let’s go!" Xiao Fenghao exclaimed in excitement, no longer as lukewarm as before in front of Zhou Wenzhi.

Zhou Wenzhi chuckled. "Let’s go before the sky goes dark."

They were planning to cut down some old trees to make an ox cart. Once they had one of their own, Xiao family wouldn’t need to rent it from a neighbor again.

The harvest this time was enough to buy some robust and powerful oxen.

They were also planning to buy some goats so that they could produce their own milk for Xiao Qingya. The milk sold at the village market sometimes had been diluted with water, and they would prefer fresh milk.

In the afternoon, the Ling siblings finally returned, bringing explosive gossip about their close neighbor.