Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 24

Chapter 24

The news broadcasted that a new round of cold air was coming, and the northeastern region had already begun a new round of snowfall.

Shan Ling stood in her birdcage, looking down at today’s heavy clouds. It had been about two or three months since she left home.

At first, Shan Ling was full of ambition, thinking she would save up a lot of merit in the city and go back before the beginning of summer to bring honor to Sparrow Village. But she never expected to almost lose her life here instead of bringing honor.

Shan Ling let out a soft sigh.

She wasn’t sure if the tabby cat in the community had sensed her true identity, but for the past few days, every time she came back from grocery shopping, it would stare at her. The green eyes looking at Shan Ling made a shiver run down her spine.

Besides the tabby cat in the community, Shan Ling also felt that something was wrong with Shen Qingyi recently, especially the way Shen Qingyi looked at her, as if she was looking at something.

If Shan Ling was happy living here at first, with plenty to eat and drink, she was actually very happy to clean the house and cook for Shen Qingyi to repay her kindness.

Shan Ling liked to be clean and enjoyed doing chores. She was a very diligent little bird back home, so she didn’t feel like she was at a disadvantage.

After all, Shen Qingyi had saved her life and allowed her to earn merit. All she was doing was a little bit of work. The money for the groceries was Shen Qingyi’s own. All things considered, Shan Ling was the one who was getting the better end of the deal.

However, recently, Shan Ling had started to feel a bit uneasy.

It seems like Shen Qingyi has discovered her secret.

Shan Ling stood on the perch and sharpened her claws. Shen Qingyi no longer came back at a fixed time. She would either suddenly come home during the day or come home late at night. Shan Ling was also afraid of scaring her, so she hadn’t been cleaning the house for the past few days. Luckily, Jiang Yi had just been here yesterday, so the house wasn’t too messy.

It was the weekend today, and Shen Qingyi had been home all day. Shan Ling didn’t go over to earn merit as she used to, fearing that Shen Qingyi might figure something out, so Shan Ling tried to keep her distance.

Ding-dong—

While Shan Ling was lost in thought, the doorbell suddenly rang. Shan Ling tilted her head and looked out at the balcony, hearing Shen Qingyi come out of the study and open the door.

“Hi~”

Zhou Shu was still in her white trench coat, carrying a canvas bag and wearing a pair of white sneakers. She stood at the door and said to Shen Qingyi enthusiastically, “Your place is really hard to find. I had to call you from the property management office.”

Shen Qingyi took out a pair of slippers for her to change into and said, “The property management here is quite responsible.”

“The management fee must be expensive, too, right?” Zhou Shu said in a rambling manner. “The management in my old community is useless, and they still charge me two thousand a year.”

Zhou Shu rambled on as she walked into the house. Shan Ling didn’t dare to flap her wings recklessly when she saw a stranger. She shrank into her cage and watched the woman cautiously, not understanding who she was.

“Oh my, is this your little pet bird?” Zhou Shu naturally saw Shan Ling. She walked over and looked at the soft, white little bushtit, pointing at her and saying to Shen Qingyi, “She’s so cute. She doesn’t look like a pet you would have.”

Shen Qingyi glanced at Shan Ling and said helplessly, “Then what do you think is suitable for me to have?”

Zhou Shu thought for a moment and said, “Something fluffy would probably be more healing for you.”

Shan Ling looked up at Shen Qingyi with a face of surprise.

“You came to my house to treat me, didn’t you?” Shen Qingyi didn’t want Zhou Shu to keep touching her bird. The possessiveness, like a small flame, made her very unhappy. She looked at Zhou Shu and said, “Should we go to the study or the living room?”

“Where do you think is suitable?”

“Let’s go to the study. You go first. I’ll make some tea.”

Zhou Shu went to the study and looked at her workbench and bookshelf. All the books were exquisite second-hand books. When Shen Qingyi came over with the tea, she said, “You’re still restoring second-hand books?”

“Mm,” Shen Qingyi placed a cup of hot tea in front of her, pulled up a chair, and said, “So, how should we start?”

Zhou Shu thought for a moment, put away her curious expression, and seriously took some things out of her bag. She said to Shen Qingyi, “Based on your situation, I’ve made some plans and adjustments. We’ll start with a seven-session treatment. I’ll come see you every week to talk about your recent situation. It will last for seven weeks in total.”

Counting it out, that’s about two months.

Shen Qingyi nodded and said, “Okay, let’s start now.”

The two-hour treatment passed quickly. Zhou Shu was a very professional doctor, and she had some understanding of Shen Qingyi’s condition, so everything went more smoothly than expected.

“Aren’t you going to keep me for dinner?” Zhou Shu asked curiously before leaving.

Shen Qingyi looked at her calmly and said, “If you want to eat takeout, I can keep you for dinner.”

Zhou Shu smiled. “Then forget it. If you run into any other problems these next few days, you can come to me. You know where I live anyway.”

With that, she quietly said to Shen Qingyi, “You have to believe me. I can keep anything a secret for you.”

Shen Qingyi gave her a push, pushing her directly out the door.

“Dr. Zhou, I’ll see you at this time next week,” Shen Qingyi said, then closed the security door.

Seeing that the stranger was gone, Shan Ling flapped her little wings and flew over, landing steadily on Shen Qingyi’s shoulder.

Cheep cheep~

Shan Ling tilted her little head and looked at her, wanting to ask if she was sick. Otherwise, why would a doctor come to her house to see her?

But this doctor didn’t prescribe any medicine. She just sat there and chatted. Was that considered treatment?

Shan Ling didn’t realize at the moment that some doctors didn’t need to prescribe medicine for treatment, but she was genuinely worried about Shen Qingyi. After all, no one would see a doctor for no reason.

Is Shen Qingyi sick?

Shan Ling nuzzled against her face and felt that her body temperature was normal. Then what was wrong with her?

Shen Qingyi felt Shan Ling’s closeness. She looked at her with a heavy gaze, reached out to playfully tickle her little chin, but didn’t say a word.

Night fell.

Shan Ling couldn’t fall asleep in her cage. For some reason, she was always anxious, and she kept thinking about the way Shen Qingyi had looked at her today.

That look was as if she had discovered that she was human, filled with scrutiny and consideration.

Shan Ling was a bird who couldn’t hide her thoughts. Once something was on her mind, she would become very anxious. She still couldn’t sleep at midnight. After thinking for a long time, she decided to go see Shen Qingyi.

The bedroom was pitch black. Only the streetlights outside the not-fully-closed curtains could be seen. Everything around her was quiet. Even Shen Qingyi was deep in her dreams.

Shan Ling landed on her chest, looking down at Shen Qingyi’s delicate face, her eyes filled with worry.

She had to leave Shen Qingyi before she was discovered.

Shan Ling shook her wings, then snuggled into Shen Qingyi’s arms, planning to sleep one last time.

That night, Shen Qingyi had a dream.

“I’m leaving.”

The girl in the dream was just lying in Shen Qingyi’s arms, her eyes tightly closed. Shen Qingyi originally thought she was sleeping, but she never expected the other person to speak.

“I’ve been so happy to be with you these past few days. Every minute and every second with you has been joyful. Meeting you was the luckiest thing that has happened to me since I came here.”

The girl gently wrapped her arms around Shen Qingyi’s waist and buried her face in her shoulder and neck. There was a hint of grievance and reluctance in her voice.

“But you’re about to find out about me, so I can’t be with you anymore.”

“Yiyi.”

The girl in the dream called Shen Qingyi by this name.

“If it’s meant to be, we will meet again…”

The first ray of morning sun shone into the bedroom. Shen Qingyi groggily opened her eyes, momentarily unable to tell what time it was.

Outside the not-fully-closed curtains was the rising sun.

The golden light scattered onto the floor of the room. Shen Qingyi rubbed her head and got up from the bed.

It was Monday, a new week, and a new day.

And on this sunny day, Shen Qingyi discovered that the little chubby bird she had been raising for a month was gone. She searched the entire house and found that the other party had just disappeared, not even leaving behind a single feather…

…

Shan Ling was wearing clothes that didn’t fit very well, wrapped in one of Shen Qingyi’s trench coats. She sat on the bus and slowly made her way to another community.

The entrance of the old community was filled with breakfast stalls. Since it was too early, there weren’t many people at these stalls yet.

As she passed the fried dough stick stall, Shan Ling looked at the golden, greasy fried dough sticks. She held herself back and held herself back, but she finally couldn’t hold back anymore. She took out two yuan from her pocket, wanting a fried dough stick.

“Little girl, fried dough sticks are two-and-a-half yuan each now,” the couple selling the fried dough sticks said to Shan Ling.

Shan Ling was a bit embarrassed. Everything on her, from the inside out and top to bottom, belonged to Shen Qingyi. Even the bus fare was “borrowed” from Shen Qingyi.

“Why did the price go up again?” Shan Ling shrank back and put the two yuan back into her pocket. She shook her head and said, “Then I don’t want it.”

Seeing that Shan Ling was about to leave, the person selling the fried dough sticks said, “I’ll sell you one for two yuan. It’s a good way to start the morning. Take it, little girl.”

With the last two yuan she had, Shan Ling bought a fried dough stick. She ate it in small bites and walked into the community, heading toward the basement she had rented.

It was called a basement, but it was actually a garage. The landlord had casually renovated it, added a security door, and it became a studio.

This garage was not cheap. It had nothing in it, but the landlord still charged Shan Ling 800 yuan a month. When Shan Ling first arrived here, she didn’t even bargain with the landlord and signed the contract right away.

After finishing the fried dough stick, Shan Ling rummaged through the flower bed across from the garage, found the key to the front door she had hidden there, and then entered the room.

The garage, which hadn’t been lived in for a month, smelled of mold. Shan Ling frowned slightly, looking at the mold that had already started growing on the wall in the corner. The bedsheets and duvet cover also smelled of mold.

Everything in the rental was incomparable to Shen Qingyi’s home. Shan Ling stood at the door and let out a soft sigh.

The hard life had just begun.

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