Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Both people fell asleep during the movie.

When Shen Qingyi woke up, she only felt the left half of her body was numb. She opened her eyes to find Shan Ling resting on her shoulder, cuddled up together.

The movie on the TV had long since ended, leaving only a faint silver-blue light that blurred the outlines of the two people. The heavy curtains blocked the light, making it difficult to tell what time it was.

The person in her arms turned slightly. Seeming to feel cold, she started burrowing into Shen Qingyi’s embrace. The waking person also reached out and held her close, covering Shan Ling with the blanket that had fallen off.

Shen Qingyi looked blankly at Shan Ling, feeling as if she had overlapped with her dream.

In those days, the Shan Ling in her dream also slept on her like this, her long eyelashes gently fluttering with her breath, as if dancing.

The Shen Qingyi in the dream could only gaze at the person in her arms, but now, she could reach out and touch her.

Shen Qingyi raised her hand, using her soft fingertips to brush Shan Ling’s stray hair, looking at her fair and smooth cheek, feeling her heartbeat seemed to have quickened considerably.

Yet, she felt extremely joyful.

Shan Ling’s sleep was not deep. Shen Qingyi’s slight movement woke her. Her eyes blinked and then she looked up at the person above her.

Thump, thump—

Shan Ling nestled in Shen Qingyi’s arms, looking at Shen Qingyi with confusion. “Yiyi, why is your heart beating so fast? Are you uncomfortable?”

“No…” Shen Qingyi couldn’t control her heartbeat. Her fingertips were trembling from nervousness.

Shan Ling found it strange. She grabbed Shen Qingyi’s hand and tucked it inside her blanket, then closed her eyes sleepily.

“Your hands are so cold.” Shan Ling closed her eyes but wasn’t asleep. She rubbed Shen Qingyi’s fingers under the warm blanket, rubbing from her thumb all the way to her pinky, which made Shen Qingyi feel utterly tingling.

After rubbing, Shan Ling said, “I gave you a massage, so you won’t be cold anymore.”

Shen Qingyi didn’t know what expression she should show at the moment. She felt her heartbeat seemed to have quickened even more, yet her whole body was already warm. Her hand was held by Shan Ling, warming her from her fingertips to her heart.

It seemed that with someone by her side, the room wasn’t scary, no matter how dark it was.

Shen Qingyi leaned against Shan Ling and sighed softly, “You are so warm, Xiao Ling.”

Shan Ling smiled, opened her eyes, and said, “You are too cold. How about I warm your hands often from now on? I have a lot of inner heat. My mother always said I was like a little stove since I was a child.”

Shen Qingyi also smiled, holding Shan Ling in her arms, and said intimately, “Mhm, your mother was right.”

Shan Ling enjoyed Shen Qingyi’s embrace, and since she could rub the Merit for free, she was lazily unwilling to get up.

“What time is it now?” Shan Ling said reluctantly, “I have to go back tonight. The subway stops at 10.”

“I don’t know.” Shen Qingyi fumbled around beside her, found her phone in the dim light of the TV, and turned it on to check. It was past 8 p.m.

It was already eight o’clock.

“We slept for a long time,” Shen Qingyi put down her phone and continued to hold Shan Ling, who was like a small stove. “I haven’t slept this well in ages.”

These days, Shen Qingyi’s condition was getting worse and worse, requiring sleeping pills every night to fall asleep.

While the medicine certainly induced sleep easily, she felt groggy and nauseous the next day, and then couldn’t sleep again at night, having to continue taking the medicine.

Whenever this happened, Shen Qingyi would feel that she was probably not far from a mental breakdown.

But today, because Shan Ling was here, she was actually able to sleep without medicine, which greatly surprised her.

Perhaps, because it’s Shan Ling?

Shen Qingyi didn’t understand, but she knew she felt more relaxed when she was with Shan Ling than at any other time.

It was as if a person with a severe illness had found a miracle cure that nourished her spirit and alleviated her suffering.

“Haven’t you been sleeping well lately?” Shan Ling didn’t know about Shen Qingyi’s illness and looked at her with some concern. “Is the business at the shop really that busy?”

Shen Qingyi smiled and said lazily, “Mhm, it’s winter, so more and more people are drinking coffee.”

People often felt sleepy in spring, autumn, and summer, and essentially wanted to hibernate in winter. Therefore, many chose to drink a warm cup of coffee to stay alert, causing the one or two-hundred kuai coffee in the shop to sell exceptionally well. Even Nuonuo was thrilled with the daily sales.

Shan Ling held her waist and said earnestly, “Even if you’re busy, you still need to rest. Health is the foundation of everything. If you fall ill, how will you take care of the shop’s business?”

Shen Qingyi thought she made perfect sense and nodded with a smile. “Mhm, I know.”

“But, didn’t Nuonuo say your shop was hiring new employees?” Shan Ling looked up at her. “Have you found anyone?”

“Not yet,” Shen Qingyi said. “I want to hire someone to be in charge of the front operations: cashier, taking orders, and cleaning. I’d like to have Nuonuo focus solely on making coffee. She originally applied to be a barista, but since it was just her and me in the shop initially, she also handled orders.”

Shan Ling ‘oh’ed and continued to nest on the sofa. After a long time, she said, “Yiyi, what’s your salary and benefits like?”

Shen Qingyi was slightly startled and looked down at her. “Are you interested in joining?”

Shan Ling looked up and whispered, “Just, just asking…”

Although Shan Ling claimed she was just asking, her eyes had already betrayed her. She clearly wanted to apply.

Shen Qingyi felt her recently calmed heartbeat start again. She lightly cleared her throat and seriously explained, “The cashier position pays less than the barista position. Currently, the salary plan is 6,000 kuai, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with weekends off, but no meals or accommodation provided.”

She glanced at Shan Ling and said, “Is it worse than the conditions at your amusement park?”

“It’s not bad,” Shan Ling thought for a moment and said, “The amusement park provides food and accommodation, and I work 12 hours, so I barely have any time to spend money.”

Although Shan Ling really wanted to rub the Merit openly like this, she genuinely didn’t want to starve herself back into a little sparrow. She had to consider her own livelihood.

Seeing her hesitate, Shen Qingyi slightly tightened the arm holding Shan Ling.

“Actually, if you want to work at my shop, you can live at my house,” Shen Qingyi’s ears began to involuntarily turn red while she spoke, yet she still pretended to be very candid. “And if you live at my house, I can also help cover your food expenses.”

“Live at your house?”

“Mhm.”

Shan Ling looked at her in confusion. “But isn’t the other room your study? Where would I live if I came?”

Shen Qingyi didn’t speak. When she lived alone, she truly didn’t think her two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment was small, but now that Shan Ling mentioned it, she really didn’t have anywhere to put her.

It looks like I need to not only hire an employee but also find a new house.

Shan Ling and Shen Qingyi were lounging on the sofa for a while, but eventually, they couldn’t resist their hunger and got up to cook.

The leftover food from lunch was reheated. Shan Ling stir-fried some other dishes, steamed the sausage bought from the supermarket in the rice, and even discussed with Shen Qingyi whether sweet sausage or savory sausage was better.

After eating and drinking, it was already past 9 p.m. Shen Qingyi finished washing the dishes, dried her hands, looked at her small apartment, and then looked at Shan Ling, who was gnawing on an apple.

“Would you like to stay at my house tonight?” Shen Qingyi asked.

“Mhm?” Shan Ling looked up, apple in mouth, her ears turning red involuntarily. “This…”

“It’s getting late. It’s not safe for you to go back, and I don’t live here either,” Shen Qingyi said. “I rented a long-term room at the hotel near the compound. I have to go back there to sleep tonight.”

“Why?” Shan Ling didn’t understand. “You have a home, but you choose to live in a hotel?”

Shen Qingyi didn’t speak, her expression sinking.

Shan Ling thought she had said the wrong thing and quickly apologized. “Is it something I shouldn’t ask? Then I won’t ask.”

“There’s nothing that can’t be said,” Shen Qingyi looked at Shan Ling, thought for a moment, and said, “I actually had a pet before, a little sparrow.”

Shan Ling: “…”

“Then one day, that little sparrow suddenly disappeared, and I started to feel this house was empty,” Shen Qingyi said. “A while ago, as soon as night fell, I started to feel uncomfortable, a little afraid, so I wanted to stay in a place with more people. That’s why I rented a long-term room nearby.”

Shan Ling looked at her sympathetically and asked, “Did you really like that little sparrow?”

“Yes,” Shen Qingyi said. “It was very important to me.”

Shan Ling fell silent. She walked to Shen Qingyi’s side, took her hand, and said very seriously, “I’m not leaving tonight, and you don’t need to go to the hotel either. Didn’t you say you’re afraid to sleep alone? Then I’ll stay with you. Maybe you won’t be afraid anymore.”

“But…” Shen Qingyi glanced at her small two-bedroom apartment and said, “I only have one bed.”

“But there are two quilts, right?” Shan Ling looked at her seriously. “Having a home and staying in a hotel people will think you’re throwing money around if they hear that.”

Shen Qingyi blinked. “Then, neither of us is leaving tonight?”

Shan Ling quickly nodded.

She never thought when she left that she was so important to Shen Qingyi, so much so that Shen Qingyi didn’t dare to sleep alone in her absence.

Shan Ling felt she was truly a heartless woman. Shen Qingyi seemed calm and aloof, but unexpectedly, she was also a small, fragile girl. As the instigator, Shan Ling definitely had to compensate her, so she was exceptionally diligent with housework in the evening. While Shen Qingyi was showering, she ran to the bed to make it and fold the blankets.

Shen Qingyi came out of the shower and saw Shan Ling presenting the bed, which was laid out with two quilts, obediently.

“Ta-da~”

Shan Ling gestured enthusiastically, saying to Shen Qingyi, “The left side is your quilt, and the right side is mine. I just changed the pillowcases and sheets, and I also found a new duvet cover.”

Shen Qingyi looked at the bed and commented, “Very nice.”

It looked like something she did often.

However…

“How did you know I like sleeping on the left side of the bed?” Shen Qingyi asked her. “And this duvet cover is one I just bought a while ago.”

“Is that so?” Shan Ling was so used to lying that she blurted out, “That just means I understand you very well.”

Shen Qingyi smiled and didn’t say anything more, simply taking it as a coincidence.

Shan Ling hadn’t brought a change of clothes, so Shen Qingyi found her a new set. However, she didn’t have a new nightgown, so Shan Ling could only wear Shen Qingyi’s dress. Shan Ling didn’t mind; she had worn it many times before anyway.

Lying on the soft bed, covered by a warm quilt, with the automatic Merit-increasing device beside her, Shan Ling felt that nothing in the world could be better.

“Good night,” Shan Ling closed her eyes and said to Shen Qingyi, “Set the alarm for 8 a.m., thank you~”

Shen Qingyi looked at her with amusement, rubbed her head, set the alarm, and also lay down.

The lights were turned off, and the entire world fell into darkness. But this time, knowing that Shan Ling was there, Shen Qingyi didn’t have an episode. Instead, she felt a comfort she had never experienced before.

She gently closed her eyes and had the first good night’s sleep in half a month.

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