Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 123

Chapter 123

The morning sun bathed the balcony. Several small birds with beautiful feathers landed on the awning, chirping and discussing the day’s weather.

As footsteps approached, the birds descended from the awning, lining up neatly and quietly on the clothes rack.

“Good morning~”

The little birds chirped, expressing friendliness toward this foreign little mountain sparrow. After all, thanks to her presence, the birds in this area could live and work in peace, no longer worrying about going hungry.

Shan Ling looked at the early-arriving birds and greeted them warmly: “Good morning! Today, you’re eating mixed grains plus bird feed. The weather has been warmer recently, so many little birds aren’t coming anymore.”

As she put down the bird bowl, those few birds flew in. Some weren’t in a hurry to eat and landed on the nearby flower stand to chat with Shan Ling.

“It’s spring, you know. Many birds have gone off to find love. Finding a mate is much more important than eating.”

Finding a mate…

Shan Ling thought about it and asked the birds, “Don’t you need to find mates?”

The little birds glanced at each other, snuggling close and saying: “We came as pairs already~”

Shan Ling: “…”

Forget it. She shouldn’t bother with these un-enlightened birds. After all, she had a partner too.

Shan Ling watched the birds eat, sitting on a nearby chair, holding her head in her hands, watching the colorful birds.

Perhaps it really was spring. Several pairs of birds were only focused on romance, chasing and playing with each other even while eating. A few pairs were even showing affection right in front of Shan Ling, kissing each other sweetly, making Shan Ling blush.

Fortunately, more and more birds flew in, and Shan Ling was fine as long as she didn’t focus on the pairs who were dating.

“Little mountain sparrow, you seem a bit down today?”

A few small birds who had eaten their fill and hadn’t flown away landed on Shan Ling’s shoulder, looking at her expression and asking: “It’s rare to see you so listless. Are you sick?”

Upon hearing that Shan Ling might be ‘sick,’ several little birds raised their heads and looked at her in unison, asking with concern: “Is the little mountain sparrow sick? Are you alright? Being sick is very dangerous. Even if you aren’t tormented by the sickness, you might starve to death because you can’t find food.”

“Yes, yes. If you are sick, little mountain sparrow, you have to rely on your mate. Let her prepare food for you, or you will die.”

Facing the birds’ enthusiasm, Shan Ling smiled: “I’m not sick. I just met… two foxes yesterday, and I was a little scared.”

“What is a fox?”

“What is a fox?”

“Is a fox a cat?”

The little birds had never seen a fox and were unfamiliar with the term. They all leaned in, tilting their little heads and asking: “Is a fox a dog?”

Shan Ling couldn’t quite say what a fox was, but foxes belonged to the canine family, so they should count as a type of dog, right? Wasn’t there a dog breed called ‘fox dog’?

“It’s probably a type of dog that likes to eat chicken,” Shan Ling explained to everyone: “They eat chicken, and they might eat birds too.”

At this, the birds erupted in chaos.

A bird-eating dog!

“In this day and age, not only cats but dogs are eating birds too?”

“Wuwuwu, dogs are so scary!”

In addition to the terrified ones, there were also birds chirping and discussing what a bird-eating dog looked like.

Shan Ling felt this topic was inappropriate. They were all timid little birds, so she shouldn’t frighten them. What if they overreacted and got scared badly?

“It’s okay. There are no such foxes in the city, so you can relax,” Shan Ling reassured everyone: “You’ll be fine as long as you don’t go into the forest.”

After calming the birds, Shan Ling added more bird feed.

There were about ten pounds of bird feed left at home, only enough for these birds for a few days. More and more birds were coming here for the buffet, so Shan Ling spent a considerable amount of money on bird feed every month. When spring arrived and the first batch of baby birds hatched, she might need even more feed.

Shan Ling tidied the balcony and placed a freshly refilled bowl of bird feed outside for the birds who hadn’t had breakfast yet.

As the sun rose higher, Shan Ling finished tidying the house and steamed a basket of small xiaolongbao, two corn cobs, and two eggs.

Shan Ling had made the xiaolongbao herself a few days ago. She had also made large meat-filled buns and dumplings, all frozen in the fridge, ready to be taken out and eaten whenever they wanted.

Just as the xiaolongbao were ready, she heard the bedroom door open. Shen Qingyi had just woken up.

Shen Qingyi yawned and walked out of the bedroom. Seeing Shan Ling busy in the kitchen, she happily snuck up behind her, hugging Shan Ling tightly around the waist, then lazily resting her head on Shan Ling’s shoulder.

“Good morning,” Shen Qingyi was languid, like a newly awakened cat. She half-opened her eyes, looking at the stovetop in front of Shan Ling, and asked, “Are we eating buns this morning?”

“Yes,” Shan Ling said, “Didn’t we agree yesterday? Did you forget?”

Shen Qingyi laughed twice. She closed her eyes, hugging Shan Ling, and said, “I didn’t fall asleep until after 1 AM last night. I’m so sleepy now.”

Shan Ling looked at her in surprise: “You stayed up so late after I fell asleep?”

“We don’t have anything scheduled recently, so why get up early?” Shen Qingyi didn’t feel sorry for herself. But smelling the xiaolongbao, her stomach suddenly rumbled. She hadn’t eaten a late-night snack when she stayed up so late yesterday, and woke up very hungry this morning.

“You can’t stay up so late. You’ll damage your health,” Shan Ling looked at her unhappily and exclaimed in surprise, “Oh dear, you have dark circles under your eyes!”

Shen Qingyi instantly perked up, reaching up to touch the corner of her eyes: “No way? I didn’t stay up that late.”

Muttering, Shen Qingyi headed to the bathroom. After realizing Shan Ling was tricking her, she smiled helplessly and prepared to brush her teeth and wash her face.

This little plump bird is learning to lie now.

After eating the breakfast Shan Ling prepared, Shen Qingyi started washing the dishes.

She rolled up her sleeves, picked up the dish sponge, and began working. She quietly looked back at Shan Ling and said, “The weather is nice today. Shall we go out for a walk?”

Shan Ling was still calculating what to eat for lunch and was puzzled: “Why do we suddenly need to go out?”

“What, don’t you like going out?” Shen Qingyi leaned back slightly, asking curiously, “I thought you’d say you wanted to fly out immediately.”

Shan Ling pouted: “Although I don’t like being cooped up at home, I don’t have to go out every day. Didn’t I stay at home for a month when you were taking care of me before?”

Shen Qingyi placed the cleaned dishes aside, laughing: “How many times did you sneak downstairs during that month? Did you think I didn’t know?”

Shan Ling stuck out her tongue and said helplessly: “Fine, so where do you want to go today?”

Shen Qingyi thought for a moment and said, “I haven’t been to an antique shop to hunt for books in a while. How about I take you to browse one today?”

“Antique shop?” Shan Ling had never heard this term before and asked curiously, “What kind of shop is that?”

“It mainly sells used items. It’s great for hunting for treasures, and occasionally you can find very interesting things inside,” Shen Qingyi finished washing the dishes, pulled out a tissue to dry her hands, and explained to Shan Ling, “I know of two such shops in the city. They buy and sell used items. I found a lot of my books there before.”

Shan Ling had never been to such a place and immediately agreed: “Great! I’ll go change, and we can leave soon?”

Shen Qingyi nodded and told her, “The temperature rose today. You don’t need to wear very thick clothes; it will be hot by noon.”

“Okay~” Shan Ling answered brightly and quickly went into the bedroom to change into her outdoor clothes.

Shen Qingyi didn’t specifically change clothes. She just put on a coffee-colored trench coat over her current outfit and left the house with Shan Ling.

The weather was indeed beautiful today. As soon as they got downstairs, Shan Ling felt the warmth. Passing by the flower beds, she even saw a few trees that had sprouted early. The tender green little buds looked exceptionally delicate, hanging neatly and sparsely on the branches, making one’s mood lift.

Shan Ling looked up at the tender shoots a few times, then quickly looked away to catch up with Shen Qingyi, happily telling her, “It’s spring! I saw that tree sprouting. Such cute little buds!”

“Really?” Shen Qingyi was also surprised. She stopped and looked back, indeed seeing the tree Shan Ling mentioned. If Shan Ling hadn’t pointed it out, Shen Qingyi wouldn’t have noticed this sign of early spring.

Shen Qingyi looked at the green color representing spring and told Shan Ling, “Spring is coming a bit early this year. I heard the temperature is supposed to drop again.”

Shan Ling nodded: “It’s just the ‘Spring Cold.’ Every spring goes through it. Once this cold wave passes, the real spring will arrive, and the flowers on the balcony will bloom too.”

“Ah!” Shan Ling seemed to remember something and said excitedly to Shen Qingyi, “I said the flowers looked very lively a couple of days ago. Are they about to bloom?”

Seeing Shan Ling’s surprised look, Shen Qingyi couldn’t help but smile: “Maybe they’ll quietly bloom by the time we get back from shopping.”

Shan Ling glanced at her: “They won’t bloom that quickly. They need to grow this year’s new shoots first, undergo photosynthesis, ensure fertile soil and water, and then grow small flower buds before blooming at the right temperature.”

Shen Qingyi nodded vaguely: “Is that so? I didn’t know.”

“Yiyi, didn’t you used to grow flowers?” Shan Ling walked forward with her, asking curiously.

“I generally don’t grow flowers,” Shen Qingyi said. “The greenery in the shop is rented. Someone comes regularly to fertilize and remove pests. It’s much easier than growing them ourselves.”

“But growing a few pots of flowers shouldn’t take much effort, right?”

“But some flowers get bugs. If there are bugs in the shop, it might scare the customers.”

Shan Ling initially wanted to explain that bugs aren’t all scary, but then she remembered that some people are indeed afraid of insects, so Shen Qingyi was being considerate.

The two chatted until they reached the car. Shen Qingyi told Shan Ling, “If you really want to grow some flowering plants, you can grow them at our house. The small balcony is all yours. You can do whatever you want.”

“Really?” Shan Ling’s eyes lit up, and she said happily, “Then let’s stop by the flower and bird market on the way back! We need to buy bird feed, and we can also buy some flower seeds.”

“Okay,” Shen Qingyi opened the door and got in, telling Shan Ling, who was closing her door, “Today is just the start. We have a whole day of shopping ahead.”

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