Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 101

Chapter 101

Song Qinglan’s hysterical appearance surprised both Shan Ling and Shen Qingyi. The glamorous female celebrity on the screen, now questioning the two of them, looked exactly like a child who had lost a treasured item.

Her eyes were filled with sadness and regret, yet she forcefully hid her vulnerability.

Song Qinglan must be very tired, pretending to be a hedgehog, Shan Ling thought.

“She did come to see us yesterday,” Shen Qinglan looked at Song Qinglan and said calmly, “She left this city, but we don’t know exactly where she went.”

“Left?” Song Qinglan looked dazed. “Why did she leave just like that?”

The argument that day was still vivid in her mind. Song Qinglan remembered Fang Ran’s silence and the impulsiveness of hanging up the phone decisively.

At that time, Song Qinglan was thinking that no matter how much Fang Ran apologized, she wouldn’t accept it.

For so many years, Song Qinglan had been served very comfortably by Fang Ran. She just had to reach out for clothes and open her mouth for food; she never had to worry about household matters because Fang Ran would always prepare everything in advance.

Just like in the past ten years.

It didn’t matter how big of a tantrum Song Qinglan threw. Even if Fang Ran was hurt or sad, she would quietly lick her own wounds, and then return with a concerned expression, like a rubber ball that couldn’t be kicked away.

Always attentive, always by Song Qinglan’s side.

But suddenly, one day, this small rubber ball just vanished, without telling anyone. Their last conversation was an argument over the phone.

It wasn’t until the person disappeared that Song Qinglan started to panic, searching the whole world for her, contacting everyone Fang Ran might be connected to, but the results were all the same.

They all didn’t know where Fang Ran went, and couldn’t even contact her.

Song Qinglan felt her mind go blank. She sat silently on a nearby chair, watching her hands, those fair and slender hands trembling slightly.

“…When she left, did she say anything?” Song Qinglan raised her head with a final flicker of hope, looking at Shen Qingyi and Shan Ling. “Did she say where she was going? Did she say which train she took?”

Shan Ling and Shen Qingyi both shook their heads.

The air began to thin. Song Qinglan painfully gripped her hands, her eyes showing a look of panic.

This time, she was truly scared.

Shen Qingyi glanced at the time. Soon, customers would start coming in. She said to Song Qinglan, “Miss Song, Fang Ran really only met us yesterday, and she didn’t say where she was going. If you can’t contact her, how could we possibly contact her?”

Song Qinglan lowered her head and didn’t speak.

“Customers will be here soon. It wouldn’t be good for others to see you like this,” Shen Qingyi said. “Even if Fang Ran left you, she definitely wouldn’t want you to become this way.”

Some say leaving is for a better meeting.

But Shen Qingyi felt that Fang Ran’s departure was to allow the two of them a more dignified separation.

This relationship was already awkward. Even if Song Qinglan didn’t love her that much, they had been together for so long. Fang Ran surely wouldn’t want Song Qinglan to be seen like this by outsiders.

Song Qinglan didn’t say anything. She just woodenly stood up, preparing to walk towards the door.

“Wait a moment!”

Shan Ling suddenly called out to her, then ran into the staff room, and took out the book Fang Ran had given the two of them yesterday from her locker.

She flipped to the last inner page, saw the confession inside, and only then made up her mind to walk out and approach Song Qinglan.

“Fang Ran came yesterday to return this book to us,” Shan Ling handed the book over and said to Song Qinglan, “This book was given to you by her a long time ago. Now, it should be returned to its rightful owner.”

Song Qinglan’s gaze landed on the book. After a long silence, she finally reached out and took it.

The simple cover and the heavy feel in her hands suddenly felt like something substantial had dropped into Song Qinglan’s heart.

She seemed to smell the fragrance of green grass and realized that there were some people, small and humble, like the green grass in the wilderness, anyone could step on them, yet they still stubbornly survived, showing vibrant vitality.

Song Qinglan flipped to the last page, looking at Fang Ran’s youthful handwriting and the letter full of love. She could almost imagine her sitting at her desk back then, earnestly writing those words.

She must have cherished it greatly, must have written it many times, editing and revising to make sure it was the perfect version before carefully transcribing it into this book.

This was the purest kind of affection.

It was something she, Song Qinglan, did not cherish.

Holding the heavy book in her hands, Song Qinglan’s eyes flickered slightly. She looked up from the book.

“Thank you.”

Song Qinglan didn’t linger after saying this. She still had many things to do. She had to contact other people. Maybe someone would know where Fang Ran went. She had to find them one by one.

Looking at Song Qinglan’s departing back, Shan Ling felt an indescribable sense of loss in her heart.

“Cherish the person in front of you.”

Shan Ling let out a long sigh and said to Shen Qingyi, “How wonderful it would be if Miss Song could understand this truth.”

Shen Qingyi turned to look at Shan Ling, her lips moving slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but she forcefully suppressed it.

“Customers are coming soon,” Shen Qingyi ultimately didn’t say anything, just calmly told Shan Ling, “Get to work.”

Because of the interlude with Song Qinglan in the morning, Shan Ling was in low spirits all day.

She tried to contact Fang Ran. Although the other party hadn’t deleted Shan Ling, she still didn’t reply to messages, her phone was off, and her WeChat was unreturned. It seemed like she truly couldn’t be found.

When the shop closed, Shen Qingyi locked the door and walked home with Shan Ling.

“Let’s eat out today,” Shen Qingyi said to Shan Ling, “You’ve been distracted all day. I’ll take you around and treat you to something good.”

Shan Ling let out a weak “hmm,” as if even delicious food couldn’t capture her attention.

Shen Qingyi drove Shan Ling to a restaurant and ordered some of Shan Ling’s favorite dishes, which finally made her feel a little better.

“Yiyi, I have a question.”

Shan Ling ate a peanut and seriously asked, “I used to think that as long as people liked each other, they could be together. Now it seems I was taking it for granted. Many things aren’t possible just because both parties are willing, just like those tragedies in stories.”

Shen Qingyi looked at Shan Ling with interest and said with emotion, “What suddenly made you think of this?”

“You told me before that in human works, tragedy is the highest sublimation of art, but I think a complete ending can also be sublimated.”

“Hmm, everyone’s understanding is different, and the ending they like is naturally different.”

Shan Ling nodded heavily: “You’re right, everyone’s understanding is different.”

Shen Qingyi wanted to laugh looking at Shan Ling like this, not knowing what she had suddenly comprehended, but at least she seemed to be in a better mood.

After the two finished eating, they were strolling around to digest the food when Shan Ling suddenly felt something and stopped in place.

“What’s wrong?” Shen Qingyi turned back to look at Shan Ling.

Shan Ling was silent for a moment before shaking her head.

It turned out that her merit box wasn’t broken; the book had been given to the wrong person.

When they first saw the book, Shan Ling and Shen Qingyi intended to give it to Song Qinglan, but by a mistake, they returned it to Fang Ran.

Shan Ling was puzzled at first why her merit didn’t increase even after Fang Ran received the book.

Now it seemed they had misunderstood.

The book was a gift from Fang Ran to Song Qinglan, so Song Qinglan was the owner of the book. Furthermore, the confession in the inner layer was also written for Song Qinglan, so the book naturally had to return to her hands.

It had gone around in a big circle, only to return to the starting point in the end.

Shan Ling exhaled a white mist, as if she had suddenly understood something, and smiled at Shen Qingyi: “Let’s go home.”

The sudden change of topic slightly stunned Shen Qingyi, but she still nodded, reached out her hand, and said to Shan Ling, “Let’s go, we’re going home.”

January was quickly coming to an end. On the last day of the month, Shen Qingyi distributed everyone’s salaries.

Although they had a 15-day Chinese New Year holiday, Shen Qingyi was not stingy. Salaries were paid, and benefits were given, as she was not short on money anyway.

Nuonuo was extremely happy to receive her salary, hugging Shan Ling and excitedly telling her what she had her eyes on, absolutely thrilled.

Shan Ling lived and ate at Shen Qingyi’s house and didn’t have much need to spend money, but after thinking about it, she decided to buy something.

However, Shen Qingyi was neither short of money nor items, and the salary Shan Ling had saved was all given by Shen Qingyi. It was truly difficult to find a suitable gift for her.

“Nuonuo.”

Taking advantage of the low number of customers, Shan Ling leaned close to Nuonuo to help her wash cups, asking while washing, “I want to give Yiyi a gift. What do you think would be good?”

“A gift?” Nuonuo’s gossipy side flared up again. She leaned closer to Shan Ling and asked, “Why are you suddenly giving the boss a gift for no reason? Did something happen between you two?”

Nuonuo had long figured out that the relationship between Shan Ling and Shen Qingyi was definitely not ordinary. They were inseparable wherever they went, a sign of a very intimate relationship.

Although she didn’t know why the two hadn’t broken through that layer of paper yet, Nuonuo believed it would happen soon, so she was particularly attentive to her future boss’s partner.

Shan Ling didn’t overthink things like Nuonuo. She just smiled and explained, “I feel like I’ve learned a lot from Yiyi, and she also gave me this job with a good salary. Most importantly, we have a good relationship, and she even sent me to the hospital in the middle of the night when I fell and got hurt.”

“What?” Nuonuo caught the key point in Shan Ling’s sentence, leaned closer to her, and asked with sparkling eyes, “The boss even sent you to the hospital in the middle of the night? Why didn’t I know about this? You never mentioned it to me.”

“Did I not mention it? Maybe I forgot,” Shan Ling said with a smile. “These aren’t important. I just want to know what I should give her that would make her happy.”

Nuonuo thought for a moment and said, “I think whatever you give her, she’ll probably be very happy.”

Anyway, looking at Shen Qingyi’s demeanor, it was clear she valued Shan Ling so much that she even sent her to the hospital in the middle of the night. Furthermore, since it was a fall injury, who knows if the two had even more intimate contact afterwards.

Nuonuo excitedly wiped the cup in her hand, feeling like she was about to rub sparks out of the ceramic coffee cup.

Shan Ling’s relationship with her boss was gradually deepening, with only that thin layer of paper remaining. As soon as it was broken through, Nuonuo believed the two would definitely be together!

“But I still need to give her something,” Shan Ling, unaware that Nuonuo’s mind was running wild with all sorts of things, frowned slightly and said, “I think I still need to cater to her interests. What do you think she would be interested in?”

Nuonuo also thought seriously: “Besides her work at the coffee shop, doesn’t the boss have a side business selling and restoring second-hand books? I think your coffee making is so-so, Xiaoling, why not look for something related to second-hand books?”

Shan Ling’s eyes lit up at the suggestion: “You’re right, I’ll go see if there are any good second-hand books!”

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