Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 118

Chapter 118

The early spring wind ruffled the city lights and Shen Qingyi’s heart.

She leaned on the railing by the shore, gazing at the velvet night sky and the loud, neon-lit reality on the opposite bank.

Time passed second by second. Shen Qingyi felt she should probably be drinking a can of beer and smoking a cigarette right now, but she couldn’t drink because she was driving, and she didn’t smoke anyway, which truly wasted the beautiful night.

There weren’t many pedestrians. Occasionally, a couple having a tryst would glance at Shen Qingyi, wondering why she was standing there all alone.

Seeing the people around her disappear, Shen Qingyi checked the time. It was past 8 PM; the evening rush hour should have subsided.

Since leaving the Shen family’s house, Shen Qingyi had stood by the lake for over two hours. She was chilled to the bone and took quite a while to warm up in the car before driving onto the main road.

Passing through the bustling city, Shen Qingyi didn’t linger. All she wanted was to go home.

She didn’t delay on the way. When the car entered the community, Shen Qingyi felt everything outside became insignificant. Immediately, a hollow feeling in her stomach reminded her she was hungry.

Carelessly parking the car downstairs, Shen Qingyi wondered whether to go out to eat since it wasn’t too late, order takeout, or check what was left at home and just eat a little something to fill her stomach.

Shen Qingyi remembered the butter-scented cookies Shan Ling had baked today. She had given them all to the little girl Shen Jiaojiao and only had one or two herself.

She hoped Shan Ling had remembered to save her some.

Stepping out of the elevator, Shen Qingyi quickened her pace. But when she opened the apartment door, the living room light was on, but Shan Ling was nowhere to be seen.

Shen Qingyi searched the entire house but couldn’t find Shan Ling’s trace. She even checked the balcony but didn’t find her curled up there as a little bird.

This made Shen Qingyi very curious. Where did this little thing run off to?

She speculated that maybe Shan Ling was restless because she was late in coming home, so she had secretly slipped downstairs.

Thinking this, Shen Qingyi’s mood improved considerably. She felt that Shan Ling was like her medicine; as long as she was around, Shen Qingyi always felt much better.

The mere thought of her made Shen Qingyi feel incredibly tender inside.

Shan Ling was her medicine, and her soft spot.

Only streetlights shone in the dark community. Shen Qingyi walked around downstairs and finally found her in a corner of the ground floor’s open space.

Looking from a distance, Shen Qingyi noticed Shan Ling seemed to be feeding something. Considering the community’s circumstances, she guessed Shan Ling might be feeding a stray dog.

But when she walked around the pillar, she saw an orange cat calmly grooming itself about ten meters away from Shan Ling.

It was a stray cat raised by the community. Perhaps because spring had arrived, it no longer stayed in the underground parking lot but was resting in a corner of the ground floor’s open space, where kind people had made it a little cardboard home.

“Xiaoling.”

Shen Qingyi’s voice startled Shan Ling. She frantically turned back to look at Shen Qingyi, letting out a sigh of relief as if a burden had been lifted. She quickly jumped up and flew over to Shen Qingyi’s side.

“Yiyi, Yiyi, you saved my life!” Shan Ling hid behind Shen Qingyi, pointing at the plump orange cat: “The security guard at the door asked me to help feed the small animals in the community, but, but this is a cat! This is going to be the death of me!”

Shan Ling initially wanted to refuse, but then she suddenly thought, I’m a human now, why should I be afraid of a cat?

What can that mere few pounds of little beast do to me? I am so strong, and it is so weak.

Shan Ling was confident she could win a fight even using only her back legs.

But the moment she first saw the fat cat, all her initial arrogance vanished.

She absolutely dared not approach the cat within ten meters.

“It’s so scary. Why are creatures like cats so terrifying, boo hoo hoo…” Shan Ling buried her face in Shen Qingyi’s back, hugging her waist, and muttered, “Yiyi, you go feed it. Let’s go home once you’re done. I don’t dare to look at anything orange this entire month.”

Shen Qingyi found it amusing. Shan Ling was clearly such a weakling but always tried to be tough, only to run back into her arms crying.

She thought Shan Ling’s temperament was really like that of those mischievous little birds.

“But the oranges we bought are orange, your pillow is orange, and you have orange socks and a skirt,” Shen Qingyi said, coaxing Shan Ling, “Are you going to throw all of those away?”

Shan Ling lifted her head from Shen Qingyi’s back and said angrily, “That’s twisting my words.”

Before Shen Qingyi could respond, Shan Ling suddenly leaped far away. It turned out the orange cat had finished grooming and was leisurely sauntering over, scaring Shan Ling nearly into reverting to her original form.

“The cat food is in the bag next to the cat bed. I must take my leave!” Shan Ling dropped this sentence and ran off, leaving only Shen Qingyi and the plump orange cat to stare at each other.

After feeding the cat, Shen Qingyi found Shan Ling looking anxious at the building entrance. Shan Ling opened her mouth but seemed afraid of the cat smell on Shen Qingyi. Her small eyes darted around, clearly reluctant to come near Shen Qingyi.

“Let’s go up first,” Shen Qingyi said helplessly, not daring to hug her without washing her hands. She could only go upstairs with her.

While in the elevator, Shan Ling suddenly made an ‘eh?’ sound. She stopped fearing the cat smell on Shen Qingyi and leaned in curiously to look at her face, asking, “What’s wrong with your face? It looks swollen. Did you get into a fight with someone?”

Shen Qingyi froze slightly, remembering Shen Hongjun’s slap. She was too emotionally distressed at the time and hadn’t realized the slap would leave a mark on her face.

“No,” Shen Qingyi said calmly. “I just had a disagreement with someone.”

In fact, Shen Qingyi didn’t blame her father. She knew why the man hit her—because he didn’t want Shen Qingyi to bring up those things, and he didn’t want her to keep living in that pain.

Because of her, her mother escaped the mental hospital and tragically died outside, and Shen Hongjun didn’t even see her last moments.

But would this matter be covered up by time if they didn’t talk about it?

Shen Qingyi knew it would never be.

Shan Ling looked at Shen Qingyi’s downcast eyes and said fearfully, “When we get home, let me cold compress it for you. It’ll be hard for the swelling to go down even by tomorrow.”

She didn’t ask Shen Qingyi who she had disagreed with, nor did she ask why.

These were Shen Qingyi’s private matters. If she wanted to talk, she would. If not, Shan Ling would simply stay by her side.

Back at home, Shen Qingyi went to wash her hands and change her clothes. Shan Ling took ice from the freezer, wrapped it in a plastic bag, and then wrapped a clean towel around the bag. When Shen Qingyi finished washing and changing, Shan Ling pulled her onto the sofa and gently placed the ice pack on Shen Qingyi’s face.

“Does it hurt?” Shan Ling asked with concern.

Shen Qingyi originally wanted to say no, but seeing Shan Ling’s worried eyes, she felt a tickle in her heart and slowly uttered one word: “Yes.”

Shan Ling frowned slightly, worriedly saying, “There’s nothing we can do about the pain, but the ice pack should help a little.”

Looking at the worry in Shan Ling’s eyes, Shen Qingyi knew she was genuinely touched. She felt she shouldn’t have lied just now. Shan Ling was just a little bird who didn’t understand human complexities. Why did she need to use these convoluted approaches?

Compared to others, Shan Ling was truly a very honest little sprite, pure like a blank sheet of paper, only knowing direct and straightforward emotions.

“Actually… it doesn’t hurt anymore,” Shen Qingyi held the hand Shan Ling was using to compress her face and said softly, “You don’t need to worry about me. I was just teasing you earlier.”

Shan Ling didn’t get angry. She just looked at her curiously and asked, “Are you telling the truth? Don’t lie if it hurts. I can’t hurt for you, you know.”

Shen Qingyi smiled and nodded at her: “It really doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Alright then,” Shan Ling saw that Shen Qingyi’s tone and demeanor were fine and quietly relieved. She told Shen Qingyi, “Your face is like this. I don’t think the swelling will go down in less than three days. You should stay home honestly these few days and not go anywhere.”

“Okay,” Shen Qingyi agreed readily.

Shan Ling looked at her curiously and then asked, “Did you see Jiaojiao when you went back today?”

“I did,” Shen Qingyi’s dark eyes fixed on Shan Ling. She asked her, “Are you very curious about how I got the injury on my face?”

Shan Ling answered honestly: “It would be a lie to say I’m not curious, but I won’t pressure you if you don’t say anything. I know you must have a secret, and it’s okay if you don’t tell me.”

Because I have one too.

Although Shan Ling had revealed that she was a little mountain sparrow, she hadn’t told Shen Qingyi that the reason she stayed by her side initially was to piggyback on her good karma.

If Shen Qingyi knew that she had used her, she would surely be heartbroken.

Although Shan Ling truly liked Shen Qingyi now and wanted to be with her, if Shen Qingyi knew, it would inevitably cause a misunderstanding. So, Shan Ling planned to tell her her little secret when the time was right.

Now that Shen Qingyi also had a secret she was keeping from her, Shan Ling was actually relieved.

We both have secrets, so who is anyone to judge?

Shen Qingyi hadn’t expected this little mountain sparrow to be so open-minded. If they were a normal couple, finding out the other person was keeping a secret would definitely lead to suspicion. Instead, Shan Ling seemed happy about it?

“Are you really not bothered?” Shen Qingyi asked curiously.

“I’m not bothered,” Shan Ling answered just as readily. She told Shen Qingyi, “Don’t you humans all have many secrets? A life without secrets isn’t a complete life, so I don’t mind something like this. As long as you’re not a bad person and don’t do anything wicked, I can accept it.”

Shen Qingyi smiled helplessly at this answer: “I’m just an ordinary person. What kind of wicked things could I do? But I genuinely can’t tell you my secret now. In a while… if you’re willing to listen, I’ll tell you everything.”

Shan Ling nodded, smiling at her: “Yiyi, you’re so nice, willing to share your secret with me.”

Shen Qingyi looked at her, leaned closer, and said, “What? You seem very happy about it?”

“Of course I’m happy,” Shan Ling said. “It shows our relationship is taking another step forward.”

This little chubby bird is so naive. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

Shen Qingyi sighed softly in her heart, reached out, and pulled the person onto her lap. Shan Ling let out a small gasp and was sitting in Shen Qingyi’s arms in the blink of an eye.

She was currently holding the ice pack in her arms, looking utterly bewildered.

“What’s wrong?” Shan Ling asked curiously, “Why did you suddenly pull me onto your lap?”

“I just thought it was more convenient this way,” Shen Qingyi leaned closer and said to Shan Ling softly, “I want to kiss you.”

Shan Ling blinked, then suddenly said, “It’s spring.”

“What?” Shen Qingyi looked at her, not understanding why she suddenly said that.

“It’s spring,” Shan Ling hugged Shen Qingyi, leaned in, pecked her mouth with a small kiss, and said with a smile, “I can tell. You want to m-a-t-e with me.”

Shen Qingyi stiffened while holding Shan Ling.

Were little sprites this direct when they spoke now?

“It’s not m-a-t-i-n-g,” Shen Qingyi leaned in and kissed Shan Ling on the lips, correcting her, “It’s called m-a…”

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