With the new house secured, Selene felt much more relaxed.
The secondary renovations would take another two days, and during this time, she needed to pack up her belongings, discard some unnecessary items, and purchase some essentials for the new home.
Although the new landlord was easygoing, required no deposit, and allowed monthly rent payments, so she didn't have to spend much on rent, she was currently unemployed and her funds were dwindling.
To increase income and reduce expenses, she first needed income because you can't cut back on spending if there's nothing to spend. Eventually, you'd run out of resources.
The joy of moving into the new house quickly faded under the weight of what Selene dubbed "stress."
Selene took out her phone, opened the calculator app, and began to tally her total net worth.
Having quit her job voluntarily, she received no severance pay, but fortunately, she had saved some money over the past two years. Moreover, the house she was renting was paid annually, and Mrs. Maple would refund her the remaining three and a half months' rent, adding an extra $500 to alleviate some financial pressure.
After going through all her bank cards and digital wallets, Selene realized that altogether, she had less than $6,000.
The annual rent for the new house was $3,000, which meant that even with frugal living, she wouldn't last a year in this city without finding work.
How could she make money without leaving home?
Selene thought hard and realized that none of the quick schemes were reliable. She would have to rely on her professional skills. Having worked with social media influencers for the past two years, she understood the industry well and had some connections.
Perhaps she could inquire if any influencers she knew needed someone to ghostwrite content? Her previously ghostwritten video scripts had been quite popular.
Excited, Selene opened Weibo to contact a pet influencer she had previously collaborated with.
But as soon as she launched Weibo, she froze.
What was happening? The notification icon at the bottom showed 999+ unread messages, and her followers had increased by hundreds.
It took her a moment to proceed to the notifications and scroll to the bottom to understand what had happened.
A pet influencer she had worked with had shared a rant she posted a few days ago, and after it went viral, many other influencers had shared it too, bringing a lot of traffic her way.
Netizens found her cat adorable, with some asking her to continue sharing photos of the kitty, while others were interested in learning photography tips for taking pictures of cats.
This accidental fame gave Selene an idea.
Why should she ghostwrite for others when she could become an influencer herself? Once her account was established, brands would approach her for promotions, and she could earn money by posting advertisements.
She wouldn't even need to leave her house to earn money!
The more Selene thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. She decided to become a pet influencer.
The decision was simple. First, her previous company was established in the pet food industry, and all the influencers she dealt with were pet influencers, so she was familiar with the niche. Secondly, she wouldn't even need to own a pet because she herself turned into a cat, making content creation both time-efficient and effortless. She could work at night and sleep during the day-killing several birds with one stone.
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For the first time, Selene realized that having this "cat condition" might not be such a bad thing after all, as no other household cat could be smarter than her.
This had great "money-making potential!"
Now that she had a plan for earning money, the huge weight on Selene's shoulders lifted.
To make money as a pet influencer, simply posting photos on Weibo wouldn't be enough; she would need to catch up on current trends and create interesting pet videos for short video platforms.
However, Selene didn't plan to give up on Weibo entirely. Operating her account there with a mix of text and comedic snippets seemed more suitable.
She found some of her "selfies" and posted a collage.
【Selene: I heard you all like Orange, so here are some more pictures of him~ [heart.jpg] [photo.jpg]】
To Selene's surprise, her post quickly gathered several comments.
"Omg, too cute!!! My heart is melting 5555"
"The blogger is so good at taking pictures! Orange is so cooperative!"
"I've saved this wink picture to use as my avatar."
"Would you consider taking more pictures of Orange for emoticons? I really want to use orange emoticons [pointing finger.jpg]"
Her account's active followers were comparable to those with thousands of followers.
Creating emoticons was indeed a good idea.
Cute and funny emoticons are easily shared by netizens. If they go viral, they can generate a lot of buzz, which would bring her initial traffic when she started on the video platforms.
But right now, she couldn't shoot any.
After all, her "cat"... only appeared at night.
Besides, the most pressing task at hand was moving.
Selene organized her thoughts and responded to the comments about emoticons.
"Okay, once I'm settled in after these busy days, I'll take more pictures of Orange~"
---
Two days later.
Selene, with the help of the moving company, brought her belongings to the new neighborhood. She didn't have much luggage, and it took just two hours to move everything from her old home to the new one.
But it would take half a day to organize everything.
Selene specifically ordered an iced Americano with extra espresso to keep from falling asleep.
Mason, who volunteered to help, looked at the coffee in her hand and frowned like an old man.
"Selene, how can you drink this medicine-like stuff?"
She didn't enjoy it either; it was a necessity of life.
Selene explained resignedly, "Corporate slaves survive on this stuff."
"That's so true." Mason sighed and then remembered something, "By the way, where's your cat? I haven't seen it."
Selene: "..."
"Ah, I've been so busy with the move! I temporarily left my cat with a friend. I'll bring it over once everything here is settled."
Mason nodded in understanding, "Oh, that makes sense."
Selene quickly changed the subject and scanned the room, "By the way, where's your brother?"
Mason: "..."
"My brother... He's at work, yeah, he's really busy during the day, you won't see him around."
Selene sighed, "That's tough."
Mason nodded absently and picked up an object to divert the topic, "Exactly, by the way, where should this go?"
Selene glanced at the object, a small decoration, and pointed to the entrance cabinet, "Put it over there."
Three hours later, Selene had almost finished unpacking. She checked her phone and saw it was already noon.
She turned to Mason with a smile, "It's noon, and to thank you for your help, I'll treat you to lunch."
Mason paused, then beamed, "Awesome!"
He happily headed out the door and began putting on his shoes, "Where are we eating?"
Selene opened a cupboard, grabbed a bag, and looked back, "I'm new here too, do you have any recommendations?"
"There's a lot to eat around here." Mason thought for a moment, "There's a dumpling restaurant next to the complex that's really good."
"Then let's go there."
"Sure."
Mason nodded and walked towards the elevator, pressing the button.
Selene put on her shoes and looked up to see the elegant wooden door of 1802 across from her. She suddenly remembered the golden retriever, Pigeon.
Selene looked at Mason, "Can we just go? What about pigeons? Doesn't he need to eat?"
Mason turned, a hint of confusion in his eyes, "My brother? He's grown, of course, he'll eat on his own."
Selene blinked, "I wasn't talking about your brother..."
"Oh!" Mason finally remembered the random name he gave the dog, "No worries! Dogs... eating twice a day is enough."
"Oh, then I'm relieved, let's go."
Selene walked into the elevator, unaware that Mason let out a huge sigh of relief behind her.
Mason, watching Selene space out, felt his decision was incredibly right. In a while, he'd be going to school, and with Selene around, his brother's dog's safety was assured.
---
After lunch, Mason took Selene for a walk around the neighborhood. When her drowsiness returned, she reluctantly headed home.
She hadn't properly inspected her new home before, and now with time to look around, Selene discovered it was even cozier and prettier than she imagined.
The overall style leaned towards a Nordic wood theme, with real wood flooring underfoot, decorative paintings on the walls, and dual-layer curtains-one layer of pure white gauze and another of thick pea-green blackout material-both practical and attractive.
The spacious balcony had been converted from an open balcony to a closed viewing balcony with large floor-to-ceiling windows and invisible screens, and it now housed several plants. Selene knew about this because Rowan had messaged her the previous day, explaining that the house had been unoccupied and that adding some plants would freshen the air. He had also chosen plants that were non-toxic and safe for cats.
Her landlord and neighbor were really considerate. It was just a pity he wasn't around, otherwise, she would have liked to visit and thank him personally.
Selene wandered into the
bedroom and tested the very soft bed, feeling instantly that life was worth living. She dove into bed, ready to catch up on some sleep.
Selene slept for six hours. When she opened her eyes, she found herself in her cat form again.
So comfortable, she didn't really want to get up. The orange cat rolled around in the soft yellow bedding for a while before reluctantly jumping off the bed.
Hungry, it was time to find some food.
Selene then remembered, due to the busy day, she had completely forgotten to prepare food for herself. The cat food and snacks, which she found cumbersome to move, had all been given to the security guard at her old complex, who had adopted two stray cats.
And since she had just moved, the refrigerator was empty.
No big deal, she could order takeout!
Selene opened the food delivery app, ready to place an order, then remembered something very important...
Ordering takeout might not work.
Due to strict community management, delivery couldn't be made directly to her floor. At most, it would be delivered to the ground floor and left in the parcel locker, requiring her to go down to pick it up.
How was she supposed to fetch the delivery in her current state?
What should she do now?
---