Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The gossip lately has been remarkably uniform: who among the children will inherit the fortune of the recently deceased billionaire, a Mr. Chen.

This legendary figure, Chen Xinzhou, had a total of seven children, more than a dozen grandchildren, and a family of over twenty people. This billion-dollar fortune wasn’t like a single house that ordinary people would just split evenly among the children.

This was a billion-dollar fortune!

In the cafe, Nuonuo watched various bloggers speculate and became particularly curious about this kind of wealthy family’s inheritance.

Just as Nuonuo was watching the videos about the various wealthy children, the cafe’s doorbell suddenly rang. She looked up and greeted, “Welcome~”

A woman walked in. She was wearing wide-brimmed sunglasses and had a graceful figure. A long black dress enhanced her dignified demeanor.

“Hello, what can I get for you?” Nuonuo stared at the woman for a moment but still said politely, “You can scan the code here to order.”

Ms. Chen took off her sunglasses, glanced at the cafe’s environment, and smiled slightly. “A latte, please.”

Nuonuo nodded with a smile, not forgetting to remind her, “What flavor of latte would you like? Our most basic latte is 188 per cup.”

“That expensive?” Ms. Chen said with a serious expression, “I need to talk to your boss. How can coffee be so expensive? I must ask her.”

Nuonuo thought this person was here to cause trouble. She said with a bitter smile, “Ma’am, our coffee beans are imported from abroad, and the taste is different from other traditional coffees. If you feel it’s not suitable, you can also rest here for a while. It’s okay not to buy anything.”

“What, now you’re looking down on me for being poor and not being able to afford coffee?”

Nuonuo: “…” This person is so annoying.

Just as Ms. Chen was teasing her, Shen Qingyi happened to come down from the second floor.

Their eyes met, and Shen Qingyi recognized her. Nuonuo saw her savior and quickly called out, “Manager…”

“I heard everything,” Shen Qingyi said to Nuonuo. “Give Ms. Chen a free coffee. I have something to talk to her about.”

Only then did Nuonuo understand that the two knew each other and that the previous conversation was just teasing her.

Ms. Chen gave Nuonuo an amused glance and found a seat by the window. She took off her sunglasses and hung them on her chest.

“This cafe has a great view,” Ms. Chen said, looking at the beautiful autumn scenery outside the window and leaning back on the sofa. “So leisurely, it’s truly enviable.”

Shen Qingyi sat across from her, sipping her plain water. “Ms. Chen, what brings you here today?”

Ms. Chen looked at her and touched her cheek. “My grandfather was cremated this morning, along with that book.”

When Nuonuo put the coffee down, she heard this fragmented sentence. She said to Ms. Chen, “The coffee is a bit hot, please be careful. The milk and sugar are over here.”

Ms. Chen smiled at her, took a sip of the coffee, and said with a sigh, “The taste is really good.”

Shen Qingyi told Nuonuo to get back to her work and then turned to Ms. Chen. “Is there something you need from me today?”

Ms. Chen put down her coffee and crossed her legs.

“You’re just as calm as your father, Shen Hongjun.”

Shen Qingyi frowned slightly when she heard her father’s name but didn’t say anything.

“Let’s reintroduce ourselves,” Ms. Chen smiled slightly. “My name is Chen Shiling. I’m 37 years old and was in the same MBA class as your father. According to our seniority, you should call me Auntie Chen.”

Shen Qingyi just looked at her calmly. After a while, she asked, “Did you know who I was from the beginning?”

“I knew it the moment I saw you,” Chen Shiling said, sipping her coffee. “You have some resemblance to your father, but not that much. I think you must look more like your mother.”

Chen Shiling looked at Shen Qingyi and said with emotion, “The outside world only knows that your father has a perfect career and a happy family now, with an eight-year-old daughter. Few people know about you.”

Shen Qingyi also picked up her glass of water and leaned back on the sofa, saying calmly, “I don’t want people to know about my relationship with him either.”

Chen Shiling nodded. She wasn’t here today to expose Shen Qingyi’s identity, but to give her money.

“This is the fee for restoring Old Stories of Longcheng. I came here today to give you this,” Chen Shiling took a check out of her bag and placed it in front of Shen Qingyi. It was for 500,000.

Shen Qingyi looked at the number and asked with a puzzled look, “Did we agree on this much money?”

“No, we didn’t agree on this much,” Chen Shiling smiled. “But you discovered the secret in that book, so it’s worth this much.”

“Oh?” Shen Qingyi looked at her calmly. “A secret worth billions, and you’re only giving me 500,000?”

Chen Shiling’s eyes crinkled with a smile. “A young person doesn’t need that much money. Auntie thanks you here. If your father ever runs into any trouble with his business, I will naturally help him for your sake.”

Shen Qingyi didn’t say anything. She glanced at the 500,000 check, and after a moment of silence, she took it.

Chen Shiling’s smile became even brighter when she saw her take the check.

“Do you know the secret of that song?” Chen Shiling looked at Shen Qingyi, and without waiting for her to ask, she said, “That song was a lullaby passed down by word of mouth in my grandfather’s hometown when he was a child.”

Chen Shiling said, “My great-grandfather must have regretted it when he returned to the country and found out his family was gone. So he left this lullaby, probably to remember his family and child.”

“My grandfather left me most of his assets before he passed away,” Chen Shiling said, looking out the window. At that moment, a gust of wind blew, and the leaves on the trees along the road fell like a golden rain.

Chen Shiling sighed softly and turned to look at Shen Qingyi. “If you were my grandfather, would you forgive that father?”

He abandoned his wife and child for his dream, returned to the country to find his family gone, and died miserably in a mass grave while trying to find his son.

Mr. Chen, both in and out of the book, had a bad ending.

Unlike the protagonist in the original novel by the British author, Mr. Chen regretted his actions, and he wanted to make up for them, but he was powerless.

“If it were me, I wouldn’t forgive him,” Shen Qingyi said, lowering her eyes. “No matter how much he regretted it, the consequences had already manifested. No amount of repentance can turn back time. When a person makes a choice, they must bear the consequences that come with it.”

Chen Shiling looked at the person in front of her with interest, took a sip of coffee, and said, “I think so, too.”

…

Shan Ling was in a much better mood today than usual. She had gained 100,000 points of merit for no reason. This was much more than what she got from clinging to Shen Qingyi’s merit every day and helping old grandmas cross the street.

Shan Ling had never encountered so many merit points before. It was like getting rich overnight!

“If I could be this lucky every time and get this many points, wouldn’t I be number one for sure when it’s time to choose the next Phoenix in the summer?” Shan Ling happily chatted with the flowers on the balcony while watering them.

If this happened a few more times, she wouldn’t have to work so hard to get merit from Shen Qingyi, and she would be able to go home soon.

When her parents found out how amazing Shan Ling was, they would surely be proud of her.

Shan Ling was in such a good mood that she even started humming a song. She moved the watered flowers to a spot where they could get some sun and was very happy looking at them.

“Cheep cheep~”

Just then, a bird landed outside the balcony. Shan Ling recognized it immediately. It was one of the two birds she had chatted with at the window a few days ago. She couldn’t believe they were meeting again so soon.

“Hello, we meet again,” Shan Ling said, looking at the bird through the glass and greeting it.

The bird tilted its head and looked at her, not understanding why this human was talking to it.

Shan Ling saw that it didn’t recognize her, so she quickly transformed into her little chubby bird form, flew to it, and circled it, explaining, “It’s me! Don’t you recognize me?”

“Oh, it’s you,” the bird clearly remembered. It looked at Shan Ling and said, “The little sparrow from out of town.”

Shan Ling was a bit embarrassed by the name but nodded and accepted it. “It’s me. I can’t believe we met again by chance. Are you here to bask in the sun?”

The bird turned its head and looked at a certain part of the neighborhood. “No, I’m just here to hide.”

Shan Ling looked at it, puzzled. “What are you hiding from?”

“Do you remember my companion?” the bird said to Shan Ling. “Just now, it was killed by that orange cat in the neighborhood. I was so scared that I flew here randomly.”

“Ah…”

Shan Ling remembered seeing two birds last time. She was so sad to hear that the other one had died in the mouth of a stray cat. It was truly a tragedy.

“What are you going to do?” Shan Ling asked, worried. “You have to be careful not to get eaten by the cat.”

Starving stray cats were terrifying. Shan Ling was also very afraid of cats. Although she felt better in her human form, her animal instincts still made her very afraid of felines.

The bird looked into the distance and said to Shan Ling, “I’m leaving here and going to live in the park across the lake. I probably won’t be back.”

“Is that so? Then be careful.”

“Thank you,” the bird looked back at Shan Ling. “You be careful, too. Don’t get eaten by that cat. If you see it, you must run quickly.”

Shan Ling nodded with lingering fear. “Then, what… what does that cat look like? I’ll definitely run far away if I see it.”

The bird said, “That cat is very big and fat. It can jump three feet high and has sharp claws and teeth. Its eyes are green. Most importantly, the color of its fur is yellow and white.”

“You’ll definitely be able to recognize it right away if you see it,” the bird warned her seriously. “You must run as far as you can.”

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