Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 130

Chapter 130

Shan Ling nodded with a beaming smile. At that moment, a gust of wind swept across the lake, messing up Shan Ling’s hair.

She turned her head to look at the sparkling lake surface and suddenly understood why so many people liked beautiful things. Because when the wind blew, all the worries vanished, as if the wind had carried them away.

In the gentle breeze, Shan Ling and Nuo Nuo finished their lunch. They weren’t in a hurry to go back. After all, the little stall didn’t need much looking after, so they might as well stay and enjoy the scenery a bit longer, making the morning’s lingering worthwhile.

The two of them stayed in the park for another hour before returning to the storefront to resume selling coffee.

By about three o’clock in the afternoon, the previous inventory was sold out. Only two empty large boxes remained; everything else was gone.

“The new coffee won’t be delivered for two more days,” Nuo Nuo said while packing up. “Let’s take a break for these two days. It should be delivered the day after tomorrow afternoon. I can manage it alone then, Xiao Ling. You can rest at home.”

Shan Ling nodded, smiling. “It’s great that we finally sold all the coffee. Yiyi will surely be happy to hear it.”

Nuo Nuo, however, said, “The manager isn’t interested in sales figures, but if you’re willing to talk to her a bit more, she’ll probably be quite happy.”

Shan Ling blinked, as if realizing something, and smiled, her eyes curving: “Are you teasing me?”

Nuo Nuo also smiled, her eyes curving: “It’s the truth. How can that be called teasing~”

The two of them finished cleaning up the small stall. It was only quarter past three. Shan Ling figured Shen Qingyi must still be busy and didn’t want to trouble her to pick her up, so she carried her things and took the subway with Nuo Nuo.

Shan Ling rarely took the subway. At first, it was because she didn’t know how; later, it was because her home was close to work; and then she had Shen Qingyi as her dedicated driver. So this was the first time in several months she had taken the subway home by herself.

Nuo Nuo was not heading the same way as her. After two stops, she had to transfer, so she specifically reminded Shan Ling not to miss her stop before getting off the train.

There weren’t many people on the subway at three or four in the afternoon on a workday. Shan Ling found a corner seat. Seeing that she still had four or five stops to go, she took out her phone to play with it casually, passing the time.

Shan Ling hadn’t been in the habit of playing with her phone, but after Nuo Nuo recommended a few apps to pass the fragmented time, she found playing on her phone quite interesting.

When Shan Ling saw the status posted by the red cartoon little fox in her Moments, a prickly sensation crawled up from the soles of her feet.

Since adding Hu Ai, she had never actively sought out Shan Ling, and Shan Ling hadn’t sought her out either.

The two of them were like people who hadn’t added each other as friends, maintaining mutual silence.

Shan Ling found her own behavior easy to understand—she wasn’t good at initiating conversations, and the other person made her feel scared—but she didn’t know what Hu Ai was thinking.

Could it be that Hu Ai was also afraid of Shan Ling?

On her phone, Hu Ai had posted a photo that seemed to be of her working.

The sun shone warm and bright on the desk, where a few books with elegant script were placed. They were stacked together, shading a fragmented spot of light.

Shan Ling didn’t recognize the titles, which looked like ancient texts.

Recalling that Hu Ai worked at the Intangible Cultural Heritage institution and majored in ancient text translation, these must be her work materials.

However, looking at the beautifully composed photo, which had no text in the caption, Shan Ling inexplicably felt that the other person must not dislike her current job.

This was quite rare, after all. Who in modern society truly loves their job?

Putting away her phone, Shan Ling rode a few more stops before getting off the subway.

After buying some missing seasonings at the supermarket, Shan Ling quickly swiped her access card and strolled leisurely along the spring-filled community road.

It wasn’t even four o’clock yet, two hours earlier than her usual return time. Since she didn’t need to man the stall tomorrow or the day after, Shan Ling began to consider baking a cake tomorrow.

The cake couldn’t be too sweet, or Shen Qingyi wouldn’t like it.

A simple fruit or chocolate cake would be easiest, but a molten or rich milk cake wasn’t out of the question, though it would be a bit more complicated.

She remembered seeing Shen Qingyi eat cookies, and she seemed to like them. Maybe she should bake two trays tomorrow?

Just as Shan Ling was pondering whether to bake cookies today or tomorrow, she suddenly saw a blur in front of her. An orange fat cat darted out from the nearby bushes with a swoosh, causing the shrubs to rustle loudly.

“Ah!” Shan Ling was so startled that she instantly jumped up, retreating several steps with a thump-thump-thump.

These were her unconscious reactions. When Shan Ling collected herself, she was already more than ten meters away from the orange cat.

“You, you, you, why did you come out!”

Shan Ling’s face was pale with fright. She looked in shock at the sleek, well-fed orange cat crouching not far away, feeling goosebumps all over.

In fact, Shan Ling wasn’t as afraid of cats now and could occasionally get within five meters of them. But today, the cat’s appearance was too sudden, almost scaring the little canary’s soul away.

The orange cat seemed to have gained another layer of fat. It was like an inflated ball after being spayed. Every time Shan Ling saw it, it looked different from the last time.

The chubby orange cat licked its paws, its pair of slender eyes slightly narrowed, staring at Shan Ling and letting out a soft meow.

“Do you want to pet me, old man?”

Shan Ling shook her head repeatedly.

The cat didn’t understand Shan Ling’s meaning. Instead, it twitched its backside, lay down, flicked its tail, and meowed again.

“Old man is in a good mood, I allow you to pet me, come quickly.”

Shan Ling truly didn’t know how to respond at this moment. She could only stare at it wide-eyed, neither of them moving.

The fat cat seemed to have latched onto Shan Ling. Seeing that she wouldn’t pet it, it got up, walked a few steps, and then lay down right in front of Shan Ling again, insisting that Shan Ling touch it.

Shan Ling was truly on the verge of tears. She felt like she and this cat had a fundamental incompatibility. How did she keep running into it at every turn?

Normally, Shan Ling would have run around it and fled, but the cat was currently blocking the entrance to her unit building. Shan Ling couldn’t just turn into a bird and fly away, could she?

Shan Ling felt that if she turned into a bird, the fat cat in front of her would probably be even more excited.

It was a stalemate. As Shan Ling was struggling, she heard the elevator go ding— as it reached the first floor.

The person who stepped out of the elevator had a head of red hair. As soon as the door opened, she saw Shan Ling standing at the building entrance and the orange cat lying across the ground in front of her.

Hu Ai and Shan Ling’s eyes met, and Hu Ai read four words on Shan Ling’s face: “Misfortunes never come singly.”

Oh my god, this little canary is too cute!

Hu Ai tilted her head slightly and glanced at Shan Ling, unable to hold back a laugh. She covered her mouth with a clenched fist, trying to control her smile.

“Miss Shan Ling, what a coincidence. We meet again,” Hu Ai greeted her with a smile.

Shan Ling looked at Hu Ai, completely baffled. She didn’t understand why she would suddenly appear here. This was her home building, after all.

Could it be that Hu Ai was her neighbor?

“Miss… Hu, why are you here?” Shan Ling also looked at her curiously, asking, “Do you live here?”

Hu Ai looked back at the elevator, then shook her head with a light smile, saying, “I’m here to see Shen Qingyi. My translation requires me to look at the original book, so I specifically came to see her this afternoon.”

So that was it.

Shan Ling quietly breathed a sigh of relief. It was wonderful that Hu Ai didn’t live here.

Looking at the expression on the little canary’s face, Hu Ai could see her sudden relief. Then, the little canary lowered her head and saw the fat cat lift its small paw and step directly onto her white shoe.

A scream followed. Shan Ling was almost scared into reverting to her original form.

Hu Ai quickly stepped forward, picked up the affectionate fat cat, and then took two steps back to create distance. Cradling the little fatty, she said, “Turns out, you’re afraid of cats?”

Shan Ling’s face was pale: “I, isn’t it normal for me to be afraid of cats?”

Hu Ai exchanged a glance with the little fatty and knowingly raised an eyebrow: “You’re right. It’s perfectly normal for a little bird to be afraid of cats.”

Little birds are afraid of more than just cats; they’re afraid of foxes, too.

The orange cat didn’t struggle when held by the stranger. Its round eyes stared at Hu Ai, and it even meowed twice.

“What, do you want to pet me too, old man?”

Hu Ai: “…This cat is so interesting.”

She turned to Shan Ling and asked, “Whose cat is this? It’s so fat; it must be difficult to raise.”

Shan Ling watched the two of them cautiously and replied, “It’s a stray cat in the community. It has a nest in the empty space behind the unit building.”

“So you’re an unwanted little guy too,” Hu Ai muttered something under her breath. She scratched the fat cat under the chin, and the orange cat narrowed its eyes, started enjoying Hu Ai’s service, and made a purring sound.

Shan Ling looked at her, confused, not understanding what she meant by those words.

What did she mean by ‘unwanted too’?

Didn’t Hu Ai have a grandfather?

Could it be that she was referring to her parents?

Shan Ling’s thoughts were clearly written on her face, but she also knew she didn’t have time to dwell on them now, because the 1+1 force across from her was an alliance she couldn’t possibly resist.

Hu Ai looked up and saw Shan Ling’s cautious expression. She tilted her head and asked, “Are you really that afraid of me?”

Saying she wasn’t afraid would certainly be a lie, but saying she was afraid would be too lacking in spirit.

So Shan Ling chose to remain silent.

Hu Ai shrugged, hugging the little fatty in her arms, and said, “Since it’s a stray, I’ll take it home. My house is cold and quiet, and I’m sure Grandpa will like it too.”

Though its speech is a bit rude. I’ll have to change that. If the little fatty starts cursing, that would be terrible.

“You’re going to keep it?” Shan Ling said in surprise. “But it seems to eat quite a lot.”

“No matter how much it eats, it’s just one serving of food,” Hu Ai said. “Mainly, I find it very interesting.”

Shan Ling didn’t quite understand what “interesting” meant, but it was a good thing that someone was adopting the stray cat, so she kindly reminded her: “This cat is usually fed by the property management and kind residents. Should you tell the management before taking it, or they might worry?”

Hu Ai nodded and smiled: “Thank you for the suggestion. I’ll take it to the property management to check in a moment.”

Saying that, Hu Ai looked at Shan Ling, who was standing far away from her, and asked, “Are you always afraid of small animals like this? Do you not plan to… get used to it?”

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