Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Nuonuo’s eyes widened as she looked at the chubby little Shan Ling in the cage. The girl and the bird stared at each other from across the counter.

“Cheep cheep~”

Shan Ling greeted her politely: Nice to meet you~

Nuonuo’s eyes widened. She turned to Shen Qingyi, who was changing into her work uniform. “Manager, your little sparrow is so cute! Is this yours? How come you never mentioned it before?”

Shan Ling corrected her: Not a sparrow, a little mountain finch.

Nuonuo reached out to play with Shan Ling, touching its soft feathers. “So smooth! So cute.”

Being praised as cute by a stranger made Shan Ling very happy. Seeing that Nuonuo didn’t have any ill intentions, she let her touch her and even “cheeped” in a friendly way as a response.

When Shen Qingyi came out of the changing room, she saw Shan Ling rubbing against Nuonuo.

For some reason, Shen Qingyi felt a little unhappy, but she didn’t show it. Her eyes just darkened slightly, and she made a small noise to interrupt the two who were bonding.

“Manager~”

Nuonuo pulled her hand back and came over, asking curiously, “What kind of little sparrow is this? It’s my first time seeing this color. It’s so cute.”

“Yeah.” Shen Qingyi glanced at the little chubby bird in the cage. “It is very cute.”

Shan Ling looked up at her, her shiny black eyes seeming to glow. It was her first time seeing Shen Qingyi in an apron.

The cafe’s uniform was a white shirt and a dark apron with a simple coffee logo. Shen Qingyi had tied her long, curly hair into a high ponytail, and the loose strands at her temples and forehead highlighted her delicate features.

The high, black, curly ponytail swayed slightly as Shen Qingyi walked. Shan Ling thought Shen Qingyi was beautiful, and she looked just as pretty in an apron.

She really was the human she had chosen!

Shen Qingyi walked to the birdcage and looked down at the slightly dazed little chubby bird. She then said to Nuonuo, “I’ll take it to the second floor in a bit. You go and get back to work.”

Nuonuo said “Oh” and looked at the little finch with reluctance. She waved at it. “Little sparrow, wait for me. I’ll play with you after I’m done.”

Shan Ling also “cheeped” in a friendly way, as if to agree.

So this is the cafe where you work?

Shan Ling stood on the perch inside the cage, watching Shen Qingyi place her by the window on the second floor. The view was great here. Although it was only on the second floor, there were no buildings that blocked the view, and most importantly, the surroundings of the cafe were very pleasant, with trees everywhere you looked.

Shen Qingyi spread out everything she needed for the day on the table, checked the doors and windows of the room, and then let Shan Ling out.

Seeing the little chubby bird fly out of the cage and land directly on the windowsill, its small eyes fixed on the view outside, Shen Qingyi took it back from the window and placed it on the table.

“Do you want to go out?” Shen Qingyi asked it calmly, putting Shan Ling on the towel.

Shan Ling rubbed against Shen Qingyi’s palm: No, I’m tired of looking at the outside. And it’s so cold today. I don’t want to go out and freeze.

Shen Qingyi silently stroked the little bird’s body. She actually regretted bringing this little bird out.

What if it flies away when I’m not looking?

Although the little chubby bird was very clingy to her now, maybe it longed for freedom more. Perhaps it preferred the blue sky to a birdcage.

Shen Qingyi didn’t want to let it go. After being alone for so long, she finally had a living being willing to accompany her. Shen Qingyi couldn’t bear to let it go.

Perhaps, this was what they called possessiveness.

Shen Qingyi touched Shan Ling’s small body, her eyes flickering. She knew her thought a moment ago was wrong. She could only slowly close her eyes and take a deep breath.

“I’m going to start working now,” Shen Qingyi said to Shan Ling calmly. “Don’t run around. Just stay in this room and keep me company.”

Shan Ling “cheeped” twice, as if to agree.

The morning passed quickly. At noon, Nuonuo ordered takeout for two, and they ate together in the room on the second floor.

Shan Ling obediently returned to her cage to eat the millet that Shen Qingyi had prepared for her. Nuonuo ate her rice while looking at her curiously. The more she looked, the cuter she found the little chubby sparrow.

“Manager, is this little finch a male or a female?” Nuonuo asked curiously. “It’s so small. Will its babies be as tiny as a fingernail?”

Shen Qingyi hadn’t thought about this. Nuonuo’s question made her turn to look at Shan Ling in the cage. “I don’t know if it’s a male or female.”

Nuonuo’s eyes lit up instantly. She said to Shen Qingyi, “I’ll Google it!”

Saying that, Nuonuo took out her phone, typed a few words, and after a long time, found some ways to distinguish the gender. She said to Shen Qingyi, “Manager, look, you can tell from the feathers and the butt. There are comparison pictures here.”

Hearing this, Shan Ling poked her head out of the millet and hopped over to look at Nuonuo’s phone.

What’s this about looking at butts?

Whose butt?

Shan Ling blinked. She hadn’t realized the danger yet. She only felt that the words on the phone screen looked familiar, but when she tried to look closely, Shen Qingyi took the phone away.

“Cheep?”

Shan Ling looked up at her, finding that Shen Qingyi was also looking at her. Their eyes met.

Shen Qingyi held Nuonuo’s phone, looking at the pictures and text, then glanced at the bewildered little chubby bird. She murmured, “It doesn’t seem that hard.”

Shan Ling: ?

…

After checking her feathers, eyes, beak, and butt, Shen Qingyi finally confirmed that the little chubby bird she was raising was a female.

It was okay when she was checking her feathers and beak, but when she was checking her butt, the little chubby bird struggled a lot, cheeping and chirping non-stop as if it was being killed. After Shen Qingyi was done, Shan Ling ignored her, flew into the cage, and curled up into a ball, as if she was angry.

The little chubby bird had quite a temper.

Shen Qingyi looked at Shan Ling’s puffed-up little body. She reached out to touch her, but the little chubby bird turned her head and pecked her.

It didn’t hurt, it just felt a little numb.

Shan Ling was both ashamed and angry. She chirped at Shen Qingyi: You could have told from my feathers! Why did you have to look at my butt?! How am I supposed to be a bird now?!

Shen Qingyi blinked. Seeing Shan Ling’s ruffled feathers from anger, she found it so cute. She propped her head on her hand and said, amused, “Why are you so mad? I’ll buy you some mealworms on the way home, okay?”

Shan Ling opened her wings and chirped angrily: No! It’s too late for you to try to bribe me! You dirty pervert!

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