If we were to rank all of humanity’s affection for animals, rats would definitely not rank very high on average, certainly not higher than loyal dogs.

‘Rats in the sewers’, ‘rats crossing the street’, ‘Black Death’… Rats were often associated with bedbugs in sewers, covered in germs, haunting the world.

For rural people, rats were an absolute headache. They stole the precious grains from the granary and the fruits of their hard work.

Thousands of years ago, there were poems expressing the dislike for rats: ‘Big rat, big rat, don’t eat my millet.’

Little Older Brother Liu stood there, dumbfounded, then he suddenly understood. “You mean… in the following years, it was a rat pretending to be Little Blackie, staying by my mother’s side?”

An Rugu nodded, “That’s right.”

Little Older Brother Liu was speechless. He also hated rats. “My leftovers actually ended up in a rat’s stomach. I really want to throw up.”

Many years ago, when his grandparents were rummaging through some things, they found a nest of pink, hairless baby rats. It disgusted him as a child, and he has had a phobia of rats ever since.

If he had known that so-called ‘Little Blackie’ was actually a rat, he would have definitely poisoned it with rat poison.

He raised his hand to support his head, no longer caring about the pitiful rat thief.

What good was it for rats to clean? As soon as they entered the restaurant, they might bring in germs. He has to be responsible for the guests.

He rubbed his hands together, deciding to change the locks and buy some rat poison. Then, as if remembering something, he asked, “Host, is this rat some kind of spirit?”

An ordinary little rat holding a wet rag, wiping the ground… that’s highly unlikely.

“Yes.” An Rugu nodded. “It has become a spirit.”

Little Older Brother Liu immediately changed his mind, his attitude completely altered, and he chuckled awkwardly, “Host, can I send it away?”

Since he couldn’t afford to offend a yaoguai, could he at least avoid it?

“Are you really going to send it away?”

Little Older Brother Liu nodded vigorously. “I can’t stand rats.”

People who liked rats were still a minority. Like most viewers in the livestream, Little Older Brother Liu was disgusted by rats.

Even though this rat seemed to have a connection with his family, Little Older Brother Liu still couldn’t quite accept it.

Seeing this scene, An Rugu lowered her head, took a sip of tea, and seemed to be deep in thought.

Among the Five Immortals of Northeast China—Whiskers, Yellow, White, Willow, and Gray—Gray represented rats, ranking last and having the least magical power and worst reputation.

Many shamans would rather go to great lengths to summon the most malevolent Yellow Spirit or the extremely cold Willow Spirit than to summon the Gray Spirit.

Being possessed by a rat… it just felt weird.

Furthermore, many deities preferred to keep foxes and weasels rather than rats. Riding a rat would seem rather strange.

She did some quick calculations, figuring out all the connections between them, and then said, “Do you know why this rat replaced the black dog and stayed by your mother’s side?”

“Why?”

“Because your mother saved its life. Your mother doesn’t hate rats and couldn’t bear to kill them. After your grandparents found the young rats, they wanted to feed them to the pigs. Your mother stopped them, saying that the baby rats looked quite cute and that they could just throw them far away.

“One of the young rats back then was quite intelligent and became a spirit through its cultivation.

“You gave your mother a little black dog, and she doted on it. You couldn’t bear to tell her that the little black dog had drowned, and even the rat that had become a spirit didn’t want her to be sad.

“So it pretended to be a little black dog and barked like a dog every day. Your mother was half-blind and didn’t notice at all, thinking that the little black dog was by her side.”

After hearing An Rugu’s words, the viewers in the livestream had mixed feelings, and their attitudes changed instantly.

[Oh, I thought that rat was taking advantage of the situation to freeload, but it turns out it came to repay a debt of gratitude.]

[A little black rat pretends to be a little black dog and barks like a dog, dressed in colorful clothes to amuse its owner; it brought tears to my eyes.]

[Did the mother never realize that the ‘little black dog’ was actually a rat? What kind of substitute literature is this? I cried.]

Little Older Brother Liu felt a pang in his heart, and his disgust for rats lessened considerably.

So that rat was just like me, so kind to my mom!

“Did my mom find out in the end?” he couldn’t help but ask.

An Rugu remained vague, “Perhaps she discovered it, perhaps she didn’t.”

She didn’t have mind-reading abilities; she could only calculate actions, not people’s hearts.

Little Older Brother Liu was stunned for a moment. “My mom asked me to take care of it. Is it because it was too hungry that it came to me?”

An Rugu slowly shook her head. “It has become a spirit. There is plenty of food in the mountains and forests, so it is not lacking in food. It may just be craving your food, and also wanted to help you with chores.

“Actually, when the Five Immortals sincerely want to help people, they will share their luck with you. Have you noticed that your restaurant business has been getting better and better since it came?”

Little Older Brother Liu: “!!!”

Little Older Brother Liu propped his head up with his hand, his eyes wide, and after thinking hard for a long time, he nodded. “Now that you mention it… it seems so. When we first opened, we encountered a lot of problems. Customers didn’t really like the food. I also had to take care of my mother, so that period was particularly tough.

“After Little Blackie died, which was when my mother started talking nonsense, I had a lot of inspiration that year, and I couldn’t seem to stop. I came up with several recipes that were especially suitable for the customers’ tastes.

“The shop was expanded and several employees were hired, and business has been good ever since.

“In addition, there were other problems, all of which were easily solved.”

He thought it was good luck from heaven, but he never expected it was the little black rat he hated….

I Livestream Divination to the World translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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