Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 58

Chapter 58

After Shen Qingyi and Shan Ling arrived home, Shen Qingyi took her wallet from the drawer under the TV cabinet.

She pulled Shan Ling to sit on the sofa and opened the wallet, showing her what was inside.

“This is the family emergency fund,” Shen Qingyi said. “Before, Aunt Jiang used to come every Saturday to help clean and shop, and she used the money inside. It contains two thousand yuan in cash, a bank card with ten thousand yuan and no password, two access key cards, and some utility bills.”

Shan Ling nodded seriously. She knew this; she had taken it out before.

Shen Qingyi continued: “Although I’ll go to work and come home with you every day, there will be times when I can’t accompany you. So, take this access card. In a moment, I’ll also tell you the security code and register your fingerprint.”

Shan Ling nodded again.

Shen Qingyi pointed to the two thousand yuan and the card: “The cash is for buying groceries. I’ll replenish it roughly once a week, or you can directly link this bank card and use it when paying with a QR code. I will receive a notification, and if the balance is below two thousand yuan, I will transfer more money into it.”

Shan Ling interjected, “We won’t need ten thousand yuan just for groceries, will we?”

“That’s up to you. Occasionally, you can buy some expensive things, as long as it’s not too outrageous,” Shen Qingyi looked at her and said, “If you want to eat Australian lobster, you need to tell me first.”

Shan Ling asked in confusion, “What is that?”

Shen Qingyi said, “It’s a very large lobster, roughly bigger than a human head.”

“Wow, that must be very expensive, right?”

“It actually tastes quite good. If we have time, we can go eat some.”

Shan Ling shook her head and said seriously, “It’s not easy for you to earn money. You have to maintain the coffee shop’s expenses and pay salaries to me and Nuonuo. There’s no need to waste that money.”

Shen Qingyi didn’t speak. She wondered if Shan Ling would look down on her if she told her she was a rich second generation.

In any case, it wasn’t the right time. Shen Qingyi had no intention of telling her yet.

“Also, regarding your part-time salary,” Shen Qingyi looked at Shan Ling and said, “I’m thinking of paying you two thousand per month as compensation for your part-time work. How does that sound?”

“Isn’t two thousand a bit much?” Shan Ling negotiated: “And I’m not just cooking for you; I’m eating, too. Plus, you’ve already given me money for groceries. Two thousand is too much.”

“I’ve never hired a live-in maid; I’ve only hired hourly help. They usually charge ¥30 to ¥50 an hour for household cleaning and cooking. Strictly speaking, ¥100 a day is already very low. I’m actually taking advantage of you.”

“Ah… is that so?”

Shan Ling was confused by Shen Qingyi. She still felt that since she was getting free food and accommodation, she was clearly the one gaining an advantage. How did the calculation make it seem like Shen Qingyi was gaining the advantage?

“But I still think it’s not quite right,” Shan Ling looked at her firmly: “Being able to live at your place already saves me a lot of money. Renting a shared apartment outside costs at least a thousand yuan or more.”

Shan Ling calculated that she wasn’t particularly short of money and just wanted to be with Shen Qingyi. She found the back-and-forth calculation tedious, so she said, “Let’s make it two thousand yuan. The extra thousand can be considered rent for sleeping on half of your bed.”

Shen Qingyi smiled and didn’t argue further. She nodded and said, “We’ll do as you say. Two thousand for the part-time work, paid to you along with your salary every month.”

Shan Ling was satisfied, remarking emotionally, “If Tao Tao knew I was earning not much less than I did at the amusement park, with shorter working hours and weekends off, she would be green with envy.”

Seeing Shan Ling shaking her head happily, Shen Qingyi got up and said, “Since we’ve decided, we’ll follow this, but for now, don’t tell Nuonuo that we’re living together.”

Shan Ling looked at her in confusion: “Why?”

Shen Qingyi replied, “Do you want the three of us to squeeze onto one bed?”

Shan Ling thought about it and felt that Shen Qingyi had a point, so she agreed: “I understand. I’ll keep it a secret!”

Hearing this, Shen Qingyi smiled and told her, “Go hang your coat on the balcony to air out. It smells strongly of hot pot.”

The next day, Shan Ling was awakened early by chirping.

She opened her eyes and looked at Shen Qingyi sleeping soundly beside her. The sky was still gray, and the sun hadn’t risen yet.

Chirp chirp—

At this moment, the sound of birds chirping came from outside the window. This noise had woken Shan Ling up.

As a bird herself, she was naturally extremely sensitive to the sounds of her own kind.

Before, when she was in the amusement park dorm, the surrounding area was full of malls and streets—the city center—so there weren’t many birds. But the environment around Shen Qingyi’s home was excellent. High-end apartments had extensive green spaces and many trees, so there were naturally many birds.

As a result, Shan Ling often heard birds chatting, or like this, standing outside the window talking.

“Good morning.”

Shan Ling lifted the curtains and saw two little sparrows outside the window. The chubby little sparrows tilted their heads at Shan Ling. Sensing the presence of one of their own, they instinctively greeted her: “Good morning.”

“How’s the weather today?” Shan Ling asked them.

The little sparrow tilted its head, looked at Shan Ling, and then spoke: “The sky is clear today. It’s going to be a sunny day.”

Another little sparrow also tilted its head, looked at Shan Ling, and said: “Are you a bird, too? Why can you talk to us?”

Shan Ling glanced back at Shen Qingyi, quietly got out of bed, and told them: “Come on, let’s talk on the balcony.”

After closing the door, Shan Ling didn’t immediately go to the balcony. Instead, she went to the kitchen, grabbed a bowl, put some millet in it, then ran to the balcony, opened the window, and set the bowl outside.

The little sparrows watched her with their heads tilted, saying: “You are a strange human.”

“I’m not human. I’m a bird too,” Shan Ling whispered. “It’s just that it’s inconvenient to change into a bird right now. But we can still chat together. It’s been a long time since I’ve chatted with other birds.”

The ones on the dining table didn’t count.

The little sparrows hopped to the edge of the bowl, looked at the grain inside, and asked curiously: “Is this for us to eat?”

Shan Ling nodded: “Go ahead and eat. There’s a lot more at home. If you get hungry in the future, you can come find me. I live here now.”

The two little sparrows seemed hungry and didn’t reply to Shan Ling, concentrating on eating the millet in the bowl. They ate for over ten minutes before they were full.

“Thank you. We haven’t eaten our fill in days.”

The first sparrow to finish eating looked up at Shan Ling and said: “There are many birds in this area, but this is the first time I’ve seen one like you. You are a kind-hearted bird.”

Shan Ling, who was praised for being kind-hearted, was also in a good mood. She told the sparrows, “I have a question for you. Do you know if there’s a very fierce and powerful ginger cat in this neighborhood?”

“Ginger cat?”

“Are you referring to the strong, fierce-eyed ginger cat that can eat a bird in one bite?”

Shan Ling thought that sounded similar to the one she had encountered before, so she nodded and said, “It should be him.”

“Why are you asking about him?”

The little sparrows said worriedly: “He is so fierce. He has already eaten many of our brothers and sisters.”

The other one looked at Shan Ling with expectation: “Are you going to help us teach that cat a lesson?”

Shan Ling looked dejected and said, “Actually, I’m quite afraid of him, too.”

She glanced at the two sparrows and continued, “But I’m going to live here permanently now, and I will inevitably run into him. I just wanted to ask you if he has any weaknesses. I don’t want to be eaten by him.”

The little sparrows looked at each other, then told Shan Ling: [Since you were kind enough to treat us to a meal, we’ll tell you.”

“That cat is very cruel to birds. He catches them and bites them to death immediately, leaving no survivors.”

“But he is exceptionally gentle toward humans.”

“We’ve seen him lying on the ground several times, letting humans pet his belly.”

“So we think his weakness must be humans. After all, he won’t let any animal other than a human touch his belly.”

The two sparrows chattered away, and Shan Ling listened carefully.

She finally understood why, the last time she encountered the ginger cat, it lay down, exposed its white belly, and then fiercely said: “Hurry up and pet me, d*mmit.”

So that was it.

Shan Ling understood. This cunning ginger cat relied on acting cute, showing off, and faking injury to gain human favor, which allowed him to swagger around the neighborhood.

“Thank you,” Shan Ling looked at the sparrows’ dark eyes and said emotionally, “It’s hard for you to live in the winter. How about this: I’ll put a bowl of millet here every morning. If any of you, or your family and friends, are hungry, you can come and eat.”

“That is wonderful.”

“After the snow, it’s hard to find grass seeds. Winter is the hardest time for us resident birds to survive.”

“Then we won’t be shy in the future.”

Shan Ling watched the little sparrows fly away, then brought the bowl back inside, refilled half of it with millet in the kitchen, and carefully placed it back outside on the balcony.

After thinking about it, worried that some birds might knock the food over, she placed a small whetstone inside to weigh it down.

With everything arranged, Shan Ling changed her clothes and prepared to go out to buy breakfast.

Carrying the access card, she stepped out. It was a little after seven in the morning, and vendors selling breakfast pushed their carts near the community entrance.

Shan Ling could actually make these things herself, but she didn’t have much time in the morning. Buying them was more convenient. Moreover, the stuffed pancake store Shen Qingyi liked most set up its stall at this time. Making just one or two herself was a bother, so buying directly was more cost-effective.

“Boss, I’d like two beef-stuffed pancakes and two tea-boiled eggs,” Shan Ling said to the vendor pushing the cart.

“Coming right up~”

While the vendor was preparing the pancakes, Shan Ling went to the neighboring stall and bought buns and fried dough sticks. It wasn’t too much, just enough for the two of them.

Holding the pancakes, buns, and fried dough sticks, Shan Ling started walking back. She thought there was milk in the fridge. Although the combination was a bit odd, it was edible. If Shen Qingyi really couldn’t get used to this combination, Shan Ling could always make her a cup of coffee.

Just as Shan Ling was pondering this, the door of the guard booth opened.

“Hey, good morning, little nanny.”

A very familiar man greeted Shan Ling: “I haven’t seen you for ages. I was wondering if you had been fired. I didn’t realize you were still in this neighborhood.”

Shan Ling looked at the man and thought for a moment before realizing it was the security guard who used to greet her every time.

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