Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 88

Chapter 88

Shen Hongjun’s arrival completely startled Shan Ling.

Nuonuo also came out of the back kitchen and leaned in to whisper with Shan Ling.

“What does Mr. Shen want with the boss?” Nuonuo asked Shan Ling: “Did he say when he arrived?”

Shan Ling shook her head.

“Strange,” Nuonuo stroked her chin and said to Shan Ling: “I remember he brought his younger daughter, Shen Meimei, not long ago. It hasn’t even been a month. Why is he here again?”

Shan Ling looked at the two people by the window, tilted her head, and asked: “Could he be here to talk to Yiyi about the Spring Festival?”

Nuonuo looked her in the eye and finally nodded weakly, thinking it was very possible.

Meanwhile, Shen Hongjun was sipping a cup of Longjing tea personally brewed by Shan Ling. This was a new product the coffee shop was developing. Aside from the Peach Blossom Tea, Shan Ling was also brewing other types of tea.

However, these tea drinks were not listed on the ordering menu and were currently only for internal consumption.

“I thought your shop only served coffee,” Shen Hongjun said to his daughter, sipping the Longjing tea: “This tea tastes really good, no worse than the coffee in your shop.”

“Thank you,” Shen Qingyi accepted the compliment calmly. She immediately got to the point: “Are you here for something specific?”

Shen Hongjun chuckled softly: “Can’t I come to see you unless there’s something specific?”

Shen Qingyi remained silent, as both of them knew that if there was truly nothing, they would definitely not seek each other out.

Since he sat down, there had to be something.

Shen Hongjun put down the glass cup and said to Shen Qingyi: “The Spring Festival is at the end of the month. What are your plans? Are you planning to spend it alone again this year? Would you like to… come to my place for the Spring Festival?”

“No,” Shen Qingyi looked calmly at Shen Hongjun and told him: “I’ve always spent it alone before. There’s no need to go now. Furthermore, you’re a family, what would I be doing there?”

“How can you say that? When have you ever come over and Xiao Tao wasn’t perfectly prepared for you?” Shen Hongjun said, his face stern: “Jiaojiao also really likes you. She often looks forward to you coming back to play with her. How can you be so distant as to call us ‘your family’?”

Shen Qingyi shifted her posture, slightly irritated, seemingly unwilling to discuss this topic with Shen Hongjun.

Shen Hongjun continued to nag, trying to persuade his adult eldest daughter to return home for the New Year, but Shen Qingyi’s attitude was equally firm. The relationship between the two instantly dropped to freezing point.

“Dad,” Shen Qingyi said, seeing the man stop his nagging. She looked at him calmly: “You don’t need to keep saying things like this to me. The moment you decided to remarry, I stopped being your only daughter.”

“Yiyi…”

“I know. Your assets must have a healthy heir, and I don’t qualify for that,” Shen Qingyi pointed to her head, looking at Shen Hongjun: “The reason is clear to you, and it’s clear to me. Why bother pretending to be naive?”

Shen Hongjun’s face was pale. He said unhappily: “We will find a solution. Look, aren’t you fine now?”

“Fine now, but how can you guarantee I’ll be fine later?” Shen Qingyi tilted her head and looked at him: “If you weren’t thinking that way, why did you immediately call Dr. Zhou to my side when I wasn’t doing well?”

“Dad, just treat this as a visit today,” Shen Qingyi prepared to stand up and told him: “Regarding the Spring Festival dinner, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it. Drink your tea slowly. It comes with unlimited refills.”

“You don’t want to come back, does it have something to do with that little girl named Shan Ling? Did you think you could hide from me the fact that she’s a little live-in maid in your house?”

Upon hearing Shan Ling’s name, Shen Qingyi, who was about to leave, turned back and glanced at him, her brow instantly furrowed.

“You investigated me?”

The anger in Shen Qingyi’s heart immediately flared up. She looked at the elderly middle-aged man in front of her, lowering her voice: “You investigated me again? Am I a thief that you need to investigate me like this?”

“I’m just trying to understand everyone who appears in your life, as a father.”

“Stop lying to yourself,” Shen Qingyi felt a headache starting. She glared at Shen Hongjun angrily: “What are you afraid of? If I’m going to have an episode, I will definitely have it somewhere you can’t find me. You don’t have to worry about me ruining your other family!”

Shen Hongjun frowned. He also stood up, grabbing Shen Qingyi’s shoulder: “Yiyi, I’m your father. I earn so much money just to get your illness treated. Why do you constantly resist my good intentions?”

Good intentions?

What good intentions?

Good intentions mean investigating everyone she comes into contact with, getting every detail about their family.

Good intentions mean assigning Dr. Zhou Shu as her exclusive psychiatrist since childhood.

The most ridiculous thing was that Zhou Shu would tell Shen Qingyi that she was a normal person, that she needed to re-enter society, interact with people her age, and gradually overcome the darkness in her heart.

Yet, Shen Hongjun treated her like a mental patient who would eventually relapse, controlling and monitoring her with tight surveillance, forcing her to live within his sight.

Something in her head seemed to be rapidly fracturing, like a long-maintained tranquility being stirred up again. Shen Qingyi felt a splitting headache, as if her brain was about to tear apart.

“Please leave,” Shen Qingyi maintained her outward composure, telling Shen Hongjun slowly, word by word: “I don’t want to see you right now.”

Shen Hongjun watched his daughter turn and walk away. He tried to follow her for two steps but eventually stopped.

Shan Ling stood behind the counter, watching Shen Qingyi leave through the back door and Shen Hongjun collect his belongings and depart.

Before leaving, Shan Ling felt Shen Hongjun seemed to glance at her. She didn’t quite understand the meaning of that look, but their conversation had grown unintentionally louder toward the end. Shan Ling, being a bird, was sensitive to sounds and naturally caught the phrase “little live-in maid.”

Little live-in maid…

Shan Ling tilted her head, confused as to why the two of them were so angry when she was, in fact, a little live-in maid.

As for Shen Qingyi, who went out the back door, she went to the nearest pharmacy and bought new painkillers. She had suffered from frequent headaches before, taking various painkillers since university. Her body had long developed a resistance, and this time she haphazardly swallowed a handful, regardless of the exact dosage.

Only when the almost explosive pain in her head gradually subsided did Shen Qingyi finally breathe a sigh of relief. Her entire back was soaked with sweat, and the cold wind in January made her feel like she was freezing up.

The headache started again.

Shen Qingyi closed her eyes, sitting on a chair, recalling that Zhou Shu told her to call if anything happened before she left. Now, she hesitated. If she called Zhou Shu, would Shen Hongjun come to find her again the next second?

That would be a vicious cycle.

Forget it. Maybe two days of rest will be enough.

Shen Qingyi casually stuffed the purchased painkillers into her apron pocket and walked back toward the coffee shop.

Shan Ling heard the back door open, turned to look at Shen Qingyi, and smiled slightly: “You’re back?”

Shen Qingyi nodded, glanced at the time, and said: “It’s almost closing time.”

Shan Ling hummed in acknowledgment, looking at Shen Qingyi’s pale face, and asked with concern: “Are you feeling unwell? Why do you look so bad?”

“No,” Shen Qingyi returned behind the counter and said: “Let’s take a taxi home later. I’m not really fit to drive today.”

“Okay.” Shan Ling didn’t ask anything else. She simply looked at Shen Qingyi’s complexion, went to the back kitchen to pour a cup of hot milk, and told her: “Drink this. Maybe you’ll feel a little better.”

Shen Qingyi looked at the hot milk, curved her lips into a smile, and said: “Thank you.”

Although the headache was still raging, the medication seemed to be working well. After drinking the milk, Shen Qingyi felt a noticeable improvement in her headache. However, she still didn’t dare to drive, afraid of some accident on the road.

After work, the two walked side by side on the road. Taxis were difficult to catch near the Central Park, and the coffee shop was located far inside, so they had to walk a distance to the roadside.

They had worked late today, and the sky was already beginning to darken as they walked.

Shan Ling watched the sun slowly setting. The twilight sky looked like an orange palette, intense yet pure, and incredibly beautiful.

“Yiyi,” Shan Ling tilted her head and glanced at Shen Qingyi as they walked, asking: “Can I ask you a question?”

The cold wind made Shen Qingyi’s head ache again. She buried her face in her scarf, frowned, and hummed an affirmation.

Shan Ling pondered for a moment before asking: “Does me being a little live-in maid make you unhappy?”

Shen Qingyi’s steps instantly halted. She stopped.

Shan Ling also stopped, looked back at Shen Qingyi, who was a step away from her, and quickly explained: “My hearing is quite good. I accidentally overheard the end of your conversation with your father.”

“You heard all that?” Shen Qingyi frowned slightly.

“Not all of it. Just the part where you two started talking louder, and I accidentally heard the part about me being a ‘little live-in maid,'” Shan Ling looked at Shen Qingyi anxiously, asking: “The disagreement between you and your father is mainly because I’m staying at your place, right?”

Although she was a little spirit from the village and didn’t fully understand the rules of the big city, she wasn’t an idiot. She could sense that Shen Qingyi seemed very troubled.

And the reason for this trouble seemed to be her.

“If me staying at your place makes Mr. Shen unhappy, I can move out,” Shan Ling smiled at Shen Qingyi: “But then I might not be able to be your little live-in maid anymore.”

“Move out?” Shen Qingyi took a step forward, reached out, and grabbed Shan Ling’s wrist: “Why would you move out for no reason?”

“There’s no special reason,” Shan Ling looked at her, confused, and said honestly: “The argument between you and your father was because of me, wasn’t it?”

“No,” Shen Qingyi lowered her eyes and told her: “My disagreement with my dad has never been about anyone else, and it certainly isn’t about you.”

Shen Qingyi tightly held Shan Ling’s soft hand, moved closer, and hugged Shan Ling tightly.

Shan Ling was slightly taken aback.

“It’s cold,” Shen Qingyi said, closing her eyes: “Let me hug you to warm up. And don’t talk about moving out again. I…”

Shan Ling waited for two or three seconds, then asked in puzzlement: “You what?”

Shen Qingyi’s face flushed slightly, but she maintained the hug, whispering in her ear: “I… let’s go grab a meal outside before going back.”

Shan Ling thought for a moment, then smiled: “Sounds good~”

Support