Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 92

Chapter 92

When Shen Qingyi anxiously drove up to the mall entrance, she saw Shan Ling sitting on the roadside enduring the cold wind, her fair little face starting to turn purple from the chill.

She hurried over, frowning at Shan Ling’s appearance: “What happened? Are you okay? It’s so cold outside, why are you standing on the street?”

Shan Ling wrinkled her small face and looked up at her: “I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to find me. There are so many entrances to the mall.”

Shen Qingyi found it both heart-wrenching and amusing. She reached out and rubbed Shan Ling’s frozen cheeks, saying helplessly: “If I couldn’t find you, couldn’t I call you? Besides, you told me the southeast entrance, so where else would I go?”

Shan Ling seemed to want to argue but couldn’t think of a comeback right away.

Shen Qingyi rubbed her soft little face, then pulled her up, saying: “Get in the car first. Don’t let your brain freeze in the middle of winter.”

Shan Ling held her hand and said indignantly: “Normally, your brain wouldn’t freeze.”

Unless the brain was already damaged.

Shen Qingyi didn’t bicker with her. After tucking her into the car, she went to buy a bottle of hot mineral water, then sat in the car watching Shan Ling gulp down the water.

“Tell me what happened,” Shen Qingyi said helplessly: “You said something happened on the phone, and I thought something had happened to you. You really scared me.”

Shan Ling felt much better holding the hot water. She moved her fingers to adjust the heating vent towards herself, then told Shen Qingyi what had just occurred.

Shen Qingyi also remembered that sasaeng fan. After a moment of thought, she told Shan Ling: “Fang Ran and her team should be professional about this. Ordinary people like us shouldn’t get involved.”

“But if you encounter this kind of situation in the future, you must call me, just like today. Don’t just go home alone without warning,” Shen Qingyi comforted Shan Ling, looking at her and saying: “That’s very dangerous.”

Although the sasaeng fan might not necessarily follow Shan Ling, Shen Qingyi wasn’t the other person and didn’t know their state of mind.

Someone as unguarded as Shan Ling would surely not notice the danger, and Shen Qingyi dared not imagine what irreversible disaster might occur then.

Seeing Shan Ling nod, Shen Qingyi shifted her gaze to the imported grains at her feet and asked in confusion: “What are all these?”

Shan Ling presented the small dry grains to Shen Qingyi like a treasure, introducing them: “This is highland barley, this is cat-tooth rice, this is wild rice…”

Shen Qingyi wondered: “Why did you only buy rice?”

“Because I haven’t eaten them before,” Shan Ling said very candidly.

Shen Qingyi glanced at the rice grains, said nothing, but told her to put them away, planning to find time that day to call for a delivery service to mail them off.

When the two arrived home, Shan Ling went to take a bath first. When she emerged, clean and fresh, she saw Shen Qingyi focused on her phone, reading messages.

“What are you looking at?” Shan Ling asked curiously, wiping her hair as she approached: “It’s already past ten. Aren’t we going to sleep?”

Shen Qingyi looked at Shan Ling, handed her the phone, and said: “Check the trending topics.”

Shan Ling took it and saw a dark red, bold “Explosive” tag on the first topic.

“Song Qinglan Involved in Rear-End Collision with Sasaeng Fan”

Clicking for details, Shan Ling understood what had happened.

An hour ago, the car Song Qinglan was driving was rear-ended on the road. The other driver was a fan of Song Qinglan, who had repeatedly harassed her, tailgating, staking out locations, tracking, and even violently ringing her doorbell near her home.

This time, the frantic fan chased Song Qinglan’s sports car on city streets at 80 miles per hour and rear-ended it. Song Qinglan and her assistant were in the car at the time, and the incident had been reported to the police.

Someone must have recorded the video. Shan Ling saw that even when blocked by people, the man kept shouting “I love you” at Song Qinglan. The atmosphere was bizarre and frightening.

In the video, Song Qinglan was shielding Fang Ran, staring darkly at the man in front of her.

The police cars soon arrived, and the video ended there.

Shan Ling saw that Song Qinglan and Fang Ran seemed fine in the video, but after such an incident, their state of mind must be disturbed. She looked up at Shen Qingyi and asked: “Should I call Ranran to ask how she is?”

Shen Qingyi nodded: “Call her first and ask. But she might be busy right now. If she doesn’t pick up, send her a message.”

Shan Ling nodded. As expected, Fang Ran didn’t answer the phone, so she sent a WeChat message asking her to reply when she saw it.

Fang Ran didn’t reply until Shan Ling had fallen asleep.

The next day, Shan Ling woke up early, hugging her phone, and saw the message Fang Ran had replied to around 2 AM.

Fang Ran: “We are fine. We’ve been at the police station cooperating with the investigation. Thank you for your concern. It’s too late now, so I won’t call you. What happened today was truly thanks to you. If you hadn’t warned Qinglan and me, this person might have done something even more dangerous. Since no one was hurt, only some property damage, he was only administratively detained for fifteen days, but that’s already good. At least it allows Qinglan and me to have a peaceful New Year.”

Shan Ling finally put her mind at ease, bundled up in her blanket, and continued to sleep.

The incident later gained significant attention, possibly fueled by the studio’s public relations efforts, leading to public condemnation of the sasaeng fan. Some people even leaked the fan’s personal information, but it was quickly suppressed.

After all, demanding justice is one thing, but online mobbing is another.

The Spring Festival was fast approaching. Companies nearby were starting to go on holiday, and the coffee shop’s workload decreased. The three of them could even steal some time to drink the tea Shan Ling brewed.

“This really is an internal special reserve,” Nuonuo said, holding a warm cup of tea and sighing: “I won’t be able to drink Xiao Ling’s tea for half a month during the Spring Festival. I’m going to miss it.”

Shan Ling smiled: “You can make it yourself. You watch me when I brew tea. Take some tea leaves home and make it yourself.”

Nuonuo shook her head and told Shan Ling: “Brewing tea and brewing coffee have something in common: the taste is different when brewed by different people. It’s like when you and I cook. The ingredients are the same, the seasonings are the same, and the heat is the same, but the food we cook tastes different. It’s the same for coffee and tea. Just like I can’t brew two identical cups of coffee.”

Listening to Nuonuo elaborate on how brewing coffee and brewing tea were completely different, Shan Ling felt her mind start to wander.

Shan Ling suddenly turned to Shen Qingyi, blinking as she asked: “Yiyi, can I buy some of the coffee from the shop to send to my parents?”

Although there were milk tea shops in the village, they surely weren’t as good as Shen Qingyi’s shop. Shan Ling still wanted to send some back so her family and friends could try the 200 yuan-a-cup coffee.

Shen Qingyi, drinking Shan Ling’s tea, said: “The ratio of coffee to water is difficult to master, but we can record a video to teach them how to brew coffee. As for the coffee, you don’t need to send it from the shop. I can contact the plantation directly and send a batch separately.”

At the coffee bean plantation, Shen Qingyi had contracted a large plot of land to grow coffee beans, which were exclusively for the shop and couldn’t be found elsewhere.

Nuonuo’s eyes also lit up. She looked at Shen Qingyi and smiled widely: “Boss, can I have a batch too? I want to brew it for my parents when I go home for the Spring Festival.”

Shen Qingyi said flatly: “You can take it directly from the shop, but you’ll have to pay for it.”

“No problem!” Nuonuo put down her cup and said happily to Shan Ling: “Xiao Ling, let’s go! Come with me to choose coffee beans. I want a bag of freshly ground coffee powder!”

Shan Ling quickly nodded and, taking advantage of the lack of customers, went with Nuonuo to grind coffee beans.

Shen Qingyi finished the tea Shan Ling had brewed and stood at the counter, looking boredly at her phone.

The holiday was starting in two days. Shen Qingyi wondered whether she should take a trip to relax during the 15-day break or stay home with Shan Ling, watching movies and going shopping.

Shan Ling liked lively activities. Though she didn’t say it, Shen Qingyi could tell she enjoyed shopping. Every time someone invited Shan Ling out, her eyes lit up like two small light bulbs.

It was the same when they went to the amusement park last time; Shan Ling was incredibly happy.

Shen Qingyi mused, thinking she could take Shan Ling on a trip to see different sights. Shan Ling would definitely buy local specialties.

Considering that local specialties at tourist attractions would be expensive, Shen Qingyi quietly decided to give Shan Ling a larger bonus.

At 5 PM on the day before Little New Year’s Eve, the end of the year’s work was officially announced.

Shen Qingyi locked the coffee shop door and hung up the holiday sign, which clearly stated the days the coffee shop would be closed to prevent customers from making a wasted trip.

“The holiday starts today,” Shen Qingyi told Nuonuo: “Have a good rest during the break. See you next year.”

Nuonuo was also happy. She waved at Shen Qingyi and Shan Ling: “See you next year!”

Although the coffee shop didn’t give out traditional holiday gifts, the extra bonus was a great alternative, at least preventing the problem of receiving unused items.

Watching Nuonuo fly away happily like a little bird, Shen Qingyi looked at Shan Ling and said: “Let’s go home too.”

Shan Ling nodded and followed Shen Qingyi to the parking lot.

While sitting in the car, Shen Qingyi thought for a moment and asked her: “Xiao Ling, are there any special customs in your hometown for the New Year?”

“Customs?” Shan Ling looked at her, puzzled: “What do you mean?”

“I was thinking that since it’s a rare holiday, we could travel somewhere, and I’m worried your home might have some different customs,” Shen Qingyi sat in the car. She only turned on the air conditioning but didn’t start the engine.

Shan Ling thought for a moment and said: “My hometown doesn’t seem to have any special customs. It’s just the usual gathering to eat dumplings and watch the Spring Festival Gala. Now, setting off fireworks is banned, but there aren’t so many rules in the village, so kids still play with firecrackers.”

Shen Qingyi considered this, then told Shan Ling: “In that case, should we go traveling during the Spring Festival?”

“Yes, please!” Shan Ling was also eager to go out. She hadn’t really traveled much before. But she suddenly remembered something and told Shen Qingyi: “We seem to have a custom of taking a bath on Little New Year’s Eve. Can we leave after Little New Year’s Eve?”

Shen Qingyi calculated that booking flights, renting a car, and reserving hotels would take some time, so she nodded in agreement: “Okay, then we can use these few days to research travel guides.”

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