LAVW – Chapter 154 Tiger Tiger

After arriving at Hans’s place, it was yet another utterly unremarkable mega-villa.

Garden, swimming pool, lawn, fountain…

When Shi Qian spotted Lancel, the cheetah was lying beneath a transplanted exotic tree, its sleek body wrapped in a cloud of gloom.

“Roar—”

What’s wrong, bro?

Shi Qian spoke first and then walked toward Lancel under the tree.

The cheetah lifted its head. Its fluffy face was proud and refined, but catching sight of Shi Qian didn’t improve its mood—in fact, it looked even grumpier.

To be honest, Shi Qian couldn’t quite understand Hans’s move either.

The cheetah was unhappy, so he called over a tiger…

Right now, Shi Qian could easily “deal with” Lancel. If it were another tiger, a fight might really end with a cheetah dead.

Thinking about it, it was probably because Shi Qian had acted too friendly last time, making people think he and Lancel were friends.

But at least at the moment, Lancel clearly didn’t see Shi Qian as a “friend.”

As Shi Qian kept approaching, the already irritated Lancel stood up warily, letting out a roar on its own turf.

The sound wasn’t very intimidating though—more of a “wao,” turning into a “wa-ho—,” still ridiculously cute.

Shi Qian sped up and ran over to Lancel.

The cheetah turned to flee, but Shi Qian was quick and pressed down on its tail.

Shi Qian didn’t use much strength. Lancel lunged forward hard and freed its tail.

Shi Qian chased after Lancel, not sending out any hunting signals—just chasing it to play.

Everyone knows cheetahs are fast, but they can’t keep it up for long.

Shi Qian realized that in the instant of explosive speed, he really couldn’t catch Lancel.

Especially Lancel’s midair turns—so cool!

But Shi Qian had great stamina and endurance.

Before long, Lancel—completely unharmed—was panting, gave up on the running-around game, and stood on the lush green lawn to recover.

Shi Qian: “Roar roar.”

What’s wrong—feel better now?

Luckily, Lancel couldn’t understand. If it could, there might really have been bloodshed.

The cheetah flicked its tail and quietly retreated to the side, unwilling to get close to this annoying young tiger.

Lancel: “Wa-ho—”

Paired with its actions, Shi Qian guessed it was probably saying something like “Don’t you dare touch me,” in very impolite terms.

Shi Qian, on the other hand, was different—he directly reached out with his paws, poking here and fiddling there.

Though Lancel was extremely impatient, at least it got moving, and looked much more “lively.”

Hans let out a sigh of relief and said to Merlin with feeling, “Thanks to Qian, Lancel looks much better.”

Feeling a bit guilty, Merlin nodded, not very confidently.

She suspected that Qian was just teasing Lancel into “playing.”

Although Qian wasn’t older than Lancel, her little tiger had a stronger physique and innate cleverness. Using small tricks to play with a bigger one wasn’t impossible.

After playing around for a bit, Lancel’s condition really did improve a lot.

Maybe animals produce dopamine through exercise too, becoming happier as a result.

Feeling happier, Lancel temporarily forgot its major emotional blow. It led the not-very-savvy tiger around its territory, and even marked a section on the spot.

Shi Qian: …

Heaven bear witness—I have zero interest in your territory.

Seeing that the young tiger didn’t even know how to “mark territory,” the cheetah’s gaze toward him softened a lot. It then led Shi Qian off to eat.

Off to the side, Hans chatted with Merlin about something unrelated. He’d looked into Merlin’s past and said it was nothing, that she didn’t need to dwell on it anymore.

“As long as you’re outstanding and make it big, people won’t nitpick.”

Merlin had recently learned the phrase “one does not accept rewards without merit.” She smiled and thanked Hans, then asked, “Is there anything I can do?”

“Just have Qian accompany Lancel more during this period and keep it happy,” Hans said. His request wasn’t demanding.

Merlin thought it wouldn’t be a problem. “Qian seems to like Lancel quite a bit. They’ll become friends.”

Later, she mentioned it to Shi Qian as well. Shi Qian nodded casually.

He’d just treat it like being a tutor, coming to Hans’s place to look after a “kid.”

Food and lodging included, high pay—no loss there.

But then something no one expected happened—Lancel went into heat.

Cheetahs don’t have a fixed heat cycle; it can happen in any season. This accident was truly unexpected.

Hans, being extremely resourceful, borrowed a female cheetah from a friend who was also in heat, hoping to “correct” Lancel’s mistaken sexual orientation and cognition.

All Shi Qian could do was watch from the sidelines.

The female cheetah was clearly much more normal than Lancel, showing enthusiasm toward the opposite sex at first.

But Lancel was stubborn as stone—no matter what, it ignored her, and they almost got into a fight.

After a round of chasing and fleeing, the female cheetah dumped Lancel in disgust.

With no other choice, Hans endured his friend’s mocking looks, returned the cheetah, and even added a generous gift as compensation.

While watching Lancel get through its heat period, Shi Qian received good news.

A report from 1958:

【Brother Qian, as of today, the little tiger’s “celebrity tiger” goal has been completed!】

【Later than I expected—why?】

With “Will” becoming popular, Shi Qian felt the task should’ve been done long ago. Since 1958 hadn’t appeared, he’d been curious.

【First, because the character “Will” is more famous than you yourself, Brother Qian. Second, after the name change, the association with you became too strong, so the calculation requirements increased.】

【I see.】

In its orb form, 1958 squatted on the tiger’s head, electronic eyes scanning the surroundings.

After rubbing against the tiger’s head a few times, 1958 spoke again:

【Brother Qian, how long do you plan to stay in this world?】

【Not much longer. I’ll let you know in advance when I’m leaving. I’ll be counting on you then, 1958.】

【You’re too polite, Brother Qian.】

Feeling useful, 1958 got happy and stuck itself tightly to Shi Qian’s head.

Shi Qian felt his head grow heavy and worried he’d get rubbed bald. He coaxed 1958, 【Long time no see—come down and let me hold you.】

1958 hopped down and nestled beside the fluffy tiger. During the rule-compliant half hour of “free perks,” it chatted with Shi Qian about fresh news from the Transmigration Bureau.

【Heard some newcomers arrived recently, but our department still hasn’t recruited anyone new. Sigh…】

【The Female Lead Division and Male Lead Division had accidents in several high-level worlds and actually started fighting—heard it was wild.】

【There’s new furniture out again. Looks really nice.】

Shi Qian: 【Let me see.】

After half an hour of murmured chatting, Shi Qian sent 1958 off and also finalized his plans in his mind.

Next, there were only two goals.

First: make money and pay off debts. Considering how easy it is to earn in the entertainment industry, even though the circle is notoriously messy, Shi Qian decided to keep at it—acting, taking ads—striving to free Merlin from debt as soon as possible. If possible, leaving the girl a bit of an “inheritance” wouldn’t be bad either.

Second: plan his exit.

Shi Qian considered many possibilities and ultimately chose to pretend to return to the wild.

This way would probably be the easiest for Merlin to accept and wouldn’t make the many people who loved “Will” too sad. Faking death felt awful—he wasn’t even dead.

After Lancel returned to normal, Shi Qian also saw Ross at Hans’s place.

He suddenly understood—no wonder Ross had gotten the wrong idea. It was all because of this weirdo cheetah, Lancel.

But since the misunderstanding had already happened, the consequences had to be borne. Shi Qian didn’t want to be stared at by Ross with those regret-filled eyes, so he took Merlin back to the Hong Gang to eat jianbing guozi.

In the end, Ross didn’t follow—but Lancel actually kicked up a fuss about coming out to find Shi Qian.

Shi Qian, seeing Lancel at the Hong Gang: …

Bro Leopard, there are way too many kids in the Hong Gang! You’re seriously dangerous.

With no other choice, Shi Qian racked his brain and had Merlin fool Hans, then headed out.

The excuse was perfectly legitimate: experiencing and studying Lancel’s methods for improving acting skills.

It was just that what followed was a bit abnormal. Hans actually brought a cheetah, a tiger, Merlin, and animal handlers to watch plays and musicals in a private box.

Hans proudly introduced, “These are all Lancel’s favorite shows.”

Shi Qian didn’t believe it.

Even if Lancel could develop a mistaken cognition and fall for a human female celebrity, it didn’t understand refined human language—how could it possibly understand theater?

After watching for quite a while, Shi Qian realized he was still too young.

What refined, theater-loving artsy cheetah—Lancel was just staring at the actresses.

Shi Qian roughly summed up Lancel’s tastes and found that it only liked looking at female celebrities of a certain type—the more similar, the more it liked.

Shi Qian: …

Help. What kind of massive substitute trope is this.