Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 61

Chapter 61

After finishing work the next day, Shen Qingyi first drove Shan Ling home, instructing her to take care of her own dinner, before changing her clothes and heading to the Shen residence.

The Shen family’s villa was lit up as usual. Shen Qingyi parked the car and saw Shen Jiaojiao running over, leading a small dog.

“Jiejie~”

Shen Jiaojiao saw Shen Qingyi get out of the car and happily introduced her: “This is Xiao Pi. He’s a Golden Retriever and my new companion from now on.”

The Golden Retriever, named “Xiao Pi,” looked about two months old. When it sat down, it was just up to Shen Jiaojiao’s knee. It wore a red collar around its neck and happily wagged its tail, looking at the stranger with bright black eyes.

Shen Qingyi was always gentle toward animals. Seeing Shen Jiaojiao introduce it to her, she stroked the puppy’s head, which caused the little dog to shake its furry tail vigorously.

“Jiejie, the house made all your favorite dishes today,” Shen Jiaojiao proactively took Shen Qingyi’s hand. With the other hand, she held the Golden Retriever’s leash. “If there’s any meat you can’t or don’t want to eat, you can give a little to Xiao Pi. He can eat meat now, but he can’t eat bones yet.”

Shen Qingyi gripped Shen Jiaojiao’s hand a little uncomfortably and said softly, “Okay.”

The two entered the house together. Shen Jiaojiao unclipped Xiao Pi’s leash. The little dog shook the fur on its body, then joyfully ran around the house.

The small Golden Retriever ran to the dining room, frolicking and rolling around Tao Wanyue and Aunt Jiang’s feet, which made Tao Wanyue laugh and exclaim: “Jiaojiao! Take Xiao Pi away! He’s blocking my way!”

Shen Jiaojiao held her belly and laughed happily, having no intention of helping her mother. Instead, Shen Hongjun walked over helplessly, picked up the puppy that was bothering Tao Wanyue’s feet, and told it, “Xiao Pi, don’t you know good dogs don’t block the path?”

Xiao Pi happily stuck out its tongue and licked Shen Hongjun, causing the entire family to laugh happily.

Amidst this laughter, only Shen Qingyi seemed out of place.

She knew that pets could relax people and that eating together as a warm family could bring joy.

But none of this seemed to concern Shen Qingyi.

After the brief interlude, Shen Hongjun told Shen Jiaojiao: “Jiaojiao, quickly go pour some dog food for Xiao Pi. Remember to use puppy chow. He’s still too small for adult food.”

Shen Jiaojiao gave a crisp answer. She waved to the Golden Retriever, and the girl and dog ran off.

With the noisy child and dog gone, Shen Hongjun turned to Shen Qingyi and said, “You’re here. Go wash your hands quickly so we can eat. Why are you so late today?”

Shen Qingyi washed her hands and sat at the dining table, saying, “The road was a bit congested today, so I arrived late.”

Tao Wanyue served the last dish and smiled: “The traffic congestion is always serious in winter. My drive home was heavily congested, too. I didn’t expect it to still be this bad now.”

Shen Hongjun said: “It’s congested every day. It’s the norm. At least there aren’t so many cars outside the villa gates.”

“That’s true,” Tao Wanyue said. Then, she shouted to Shen Jiaojiao, who had run over: “Go! Wash! Your! Hands!”

Shen Jiaojiao cried “Ah,” and ran to the bathroom to wash her hands again.

Only when the family of four finally sat down at the dining table did they formally begin their meal.

Tao Wanyue was a very thoughtful woman. She peeled the shrimp one by one and placed them on a serving dish for everyone to take, and she also put some vegetables on her daughter’s plate, urging her to eat more and not be picky.

Shen Hongjun watched the harmonious family happily. Then, he looked at Shen Qingyi, who hadn’t spoken, paused, and said, “Yiyi, I heard from Dr. Zhou that your condition has improved a lot recently.”

Tao Wanyue nudged Shen Hongjun, signaling him not to discuss this at the dinner table.

Shen Qingyi, however, didn’t mind at all. Her family was fully aware of her situation, so there was no need to hide it.

“I’m much better. I believe Dr. Zhou told you that the recent treatment has been quite effective,” Shen Qingyi said calmly while eating dinner. “I’ve stopped taking the medication, and I shouldn’t need to take it again in the future.”

Shen Hongjun said emotionally, “That’s good. That’s really good.”

Shen Jiaojiao looked at her older sister, picked up the shrimp her mother gave her, and told Shen Qingyi, “Jiejie, you should eat more since you’ve been sick. Only by eating enough can you recover well.”

Shen Qingyi smiled and thanked her.

Seeing Shen Qingyi speak to her, Shen Jiaojiao added, “Jiejie, when can I see Sister Xiao Ling again? Will she always work at your shop?”

Shen Qingyi ate the shrimp and said, “If she’s willing, she can keep working there indefinitely.”

“Who is Sister Xiao Ling?” Shen Hongjun asked his younger daughter curiously. “Is she someone you know?”

Shen Jiaojiao told him, “She’s someone Jiejie knows. Before, Jiejie took me to the amusement park just to see that sister.”

Hearing this, Shen Qingyi nearly choked.

What was going on?

Did the little girl know that Shen Qingyi took her to see Shan Ling?

No wonder she was so well-behaved every time.

Shen Hongjun’s interest was piqued. After all, this was the first time he had heard Shen Qingyi mention a ‘friend.’ Naturally, he was very curious about this ‘Sister Xiao Ling.’

“Is she the new girl I saw yesterday when Jiaojiao and I went to your shop?” Although Shen Hongjun asked this, he was quite certain she was the ‘Sister Xiao Ling,’ as he knew Nuonuo.

Shen Jiaojiao nodded: “Yes, Dad.”

Shen Hongjun glanced at Shen Qingyi sitting opposite him, smiled, and said, “It’s certainly good that Yiyi has friends. You can bring her home for dinner sometime.”

“No need,” Shen Qingyi said. “She’s just an ordinary friend.”

Shen Hongjun looked at his daughter. He knew Shen Qingyi would never have an ‘ordinary friend’ like this. He just silently memorized the young woman’s appearance.

After dinner, Shen Qingyi didn’t linger long at the Shen residence. Even if Shen Hongjun and Shen Jiaojiao wanted her to stay longer, Tao Wanyue might not be happy about it.

So, Shen Qingyi left right after dinner, just like many times before.

However, in the past, she would always pull away from that warm family atmosphere and head toward her empty, lonely apartment. But now it was different. Shen Qingyi knew someone was waiting for her at home, and the feeling of detachment wasn’t as overwhelming.

It turned out that people really could feel lonely.

Thinking this, Shen Qingyi quickly drove to her apartment.

As she entered the complex and approached her building, she suddenly saw a familiar figure by the roadside and slowly pulled the car to a stop.

Rolling down the window, she saw Shan Ling confronting something not far away. The object was clearly blocking her path, but Shan Ling didn’t dare to move forward.

Shen Qingyi leaned forward curiously and finally saw what the orange and white mass was.

It was the stray ginger cat that frequently appeared in the neighborhood.

Shen Qingyi found an available parking space, casually parked the car, opened the door, and walked over.

The ginger cat was lying on the ground. Its entire body was sprawled out, and it simply watched Shan Ling, wagging its tail happily.

“Meow~”

Shan Ling was startled by its sound. This road was the only way back home, but for some unknown unlucky reason, she had encountered this ginger cat today, which terrified her.

She had watched the ginger cat walk up close to her, and then their eyes met.

Then, it dramatically flopped onto the road and cried out to Shan Ling.

“Hurry up and pet me, d*mmit.”

Shan Ling trembled. How dare she touch a cat? That would be like pulling a tooth from a tiger’s mouth!

But the cat seemed to have settled on her. It lay stubbornly in the middle of the road, looking ready to stand its ground with Shan Ling until the end.

Wuwuwu…

Just as Shan Ling was trying to figure out how to bypass the cat without getting tangled up, she heard someone walking up behind her. She turned around and saw Shen Qingyi, who seemed to descend like a goddess! At this moment, Shen Qingyi seemed to radiate light!

“Yiyi!!!”

Shan Ling lunged directly into her arms, crying, “There’s a cat! A cat!”

Shen Qingyi hadn’t expected Shan Ling to jump into her arms. She was slightly stunned for a moment, then hugged Shan Ling back. She glanced at the cat lying across the road and said knowingly, “So, you’re afraid of cats?”

Shan Ling looked up, her face streaked with tears: “Cats are so scary. Why shouldn’t I be afraid of cats? It’s blocking me and won’t let me go home! Wuwuwu, it’s so scary!”

Thinking about how this cat had eaten several birds, Shan Ling felt her liver tremble.

Normally, one small sparrow was barely enough to clean this cat’s teeth. She was such a big bird; how long would it take the cat to eat her?

Would it be enough to last through the winter?

The more Shan Ling thought about it, the more convinced she was. The fear of cats was an instinct for all birds. Even in human form, to a little creature like Shan Ling, who lacked worldly experience, a cat was always a terrifying presence.

Shen Qingyi wanted to laugh but didn’t dare, afraid of hurting Shan Ling’s delicate self-esteem. She could only hug her and say helplessly, “Alright, alright. Shall I shoo it away?”

Shan Ling nodded frantically: “Hurry, go shoo it away.”

Shen Qingyi then released Shan Ling, walked up to the ginger cat, and crouched down.

The cat wasn’t afraid of humans. It looked at her with its plump, furry head, meowed, and revealed its soft, white, plump belly.

Shen Qingyi found it amusing. She knew this stray cat in the neighborhood was so friendly that many kind-hearted people in the area fed it tasty food, which was why it was so well-fed and robust.

She stroked the ginger cat’s soft belly and told it, “Alright, move aside. We need to go home.”

The cat didn’t understand Shen Qingyi’s words. It flipped over and stuck its butt in the air, signaling that it wanted to be petted there too.

Shen Qingyi had no choice. She stroked the little pig-cat’s bottom, and only then did the ‘roadblock’ get up and walk away, satisfied.

Watching the cat leave, Shen Qingyi walked over, intending to take Shan Ling’s hand, but Shan Ling quickly jumped away.

“You, you just touched the cat. Don’t touch me!” Shan Ling said to Shen Qingyi earnestly and solemnly. “I’m going upstairs first. You come up later. After you get home, wash the hand that touched the cat thoroughly before you can talk to me.”

With that, Shan Ling quickly ran off, leaving Shen Qingyi standing by the road, looking at the hand that had touched the cat, unable to stop herself from laughing out loud.

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