Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 95

Chapter 95

Having to stand while eating and being unable to do anything else, Shan Ling felt truly unlucky about the bad fall on her butt.

During these days at home, Shen Qingyi did not allow Shan Ling to get out of bed, so she spent all this time lying prone.

The weather was quite nice today. A few small sparrows circled around, landing outside the bedroom window. They all tilted their small heads, looking at Shan Ling lying on the bed with worried eyes.

“Are you okay? We haven’t seen you for days. How did you get so badly injured?”

“Were you hurt by a cat?”

“But that cat hasn’t been catching birds lately. It’s fat and slow, so we’re not afraid of it anymore.”

The little sparrows chirped, their dark, beady eyes conveying concern and curiosity.

In the eyes of these little sparrows, a Northeast titmouse like Shan Ling was very formidable. First of all, she looked different from their common sparrow flock, being tall and large like a human. Naturally, her injuries would be different from theirs.

Shan Ling lay on the bed, looking at the concerned little sparrows, and said helplessly: “I accidentally fell while taking a bath and hurt my tailbone. Now I can only lie on the bed. I’ll be fine in a few days.”

“Is there something wrong with your tail?” One little sparrow looked at her in surprise when it heard this.

Another little sparrow suddenly realized: “No wonder you don’t have a tail. It must have been injured.”

The other sparrows also chirped, ‘comforting’ Shan Ling and telling her it didn’t matter if her tail was gone; she was still a beautiful bird.

Shan Ling appreciated the birds’ concern. At least she wouldn’t be so bored lying on the bed, and she could listen to the little sparrows talk about things happening nearby.

Like where a stray cat had appeared or where a new food source had been found.

She didn’t feel too lonely.

Shen Qingyi was currently organizing her bookshelf in the study. With the New Year approaching, she planned to clean all her books during the holiday and clear away the dust that had accumulated for a long time.

But as she was cleaning, Shen Qingyi heard continuous “chirping” from the bedroom next door.

Shen Qingyi looked back at the bedroom, very puzzled.

She didn’t know why, but lately, the house was always surrounded by various birds. Sometimes they were on the balcony, sometimes outside the kitchen window, and sometimes, like now, they gathered outside the bedroom window, chirping like they were singing.

Did her house have something special? Why were these birds so strange?

Shen Qingyi frowned slightly, took a book, knocked on the bedroom door, and told Shan Ling, who was still lying on the bed: “Are you bored? I brought you a book.”

Shan Ling gave the little sparrows a knowing look. The little sparrows immediately understood and flew away with a flutter.

“What book is it?” Shan Ling turned her head, hugging the cushion, and asked.

“I just grabbed a random one,” Shen Qingyi walked to the bed and sat down.

The soft mattress trembled slightly, and Shen Qingyi placed the book in front of Shan Ling.

“Is this book from your bookshelf?” Shan Ling sat up, supporting her upper body with her elbows, and flipped through it casually: “Why have I never seen it?”

Amidst the rustling of pages, Shan Ling felt something tucked inside the book.

When the pages spread, she saw that the book contained a pure white feather, not even half the length of her pinky finger.

Shan Ling recognized it immediately as one that had fallen off her own body. She instantly remembered giving Shen Qingyi a feather like this when she was a small titmouse a few months ago.

Unexpectedly, Shen Qingyi still kept it?

“What is this?” Shan Ling picked up the feather, looking at Shen Qingyi and asking knowingly.

Shen Qingyi was slightly surprised herself, only just realizing that she had unknowingly clipped the small bird’s feather inside the book.

“This should be a feather from the little bird I used to keep,” Shen Qingyi took the white feather from Shan Ling’s hand and remained silent for a long time before saying: “I wonder how it’s doing now.”

“It must be doing very well,” Shan Ling rested her head on the cushion, tilted her head, and looked at Shen Qingyi: “Maybe it’s resting at home, surrounded by family, with plenty of food and drink.”

“I hope so,” Shen Qingyi put the feather back into the book and told Shan Ling: “I’ll get you a different book. What kind of books do you want to read?”

Shan Ling couldn’t decide right away. She looked at Shen Qingyi and suddenly asked: “Yiyi, if you could see that little bird again now, would you be happy?”

Shen Qingyi lowered her eyes and said flatly: “As long as it’s doing well, meeting or not meeting doesn’t really matter. Besides, you can’t actually make it meet me, so don’t worry about it.”

She stood up from the window side and asked: “I’m going to order takeout later. What do you want to eat?”

“Anything is fine,” Shan Ling straightened her body, watching Shen Qingyi’s retreating back, then suddenly deflated and flopped back down.

Shan Ling had panicked when she saw her own feather, thinking Shen Qingyi had discovered her identity and was testing her with that feather. But Shen Qingyi’s subsequent behavior seemed to indicate that she hadn’t figured out her identity yet.

This made Shan Ling a bit troubled.

She felt very guilty toward Shen Qingyi. As a little bird, she ate her food and lived in her house, then left without even saying goodbye.

Looking back, Shan Ling felt she had behaved quite improperly.

But Shan Ling didn’t dare to tell Shen Qingyi the truth. What if it scared her away?

The consequences would be more than just a guilty conscience. Her little bird life might even be forfeited here.

After much deliberation, Shan Ling still couldn’t decide what to do. She lay on the bed listlessly, unable to muster any enthusiasm for anything.

She stared out the window, entertaining the thought of sharing her secret with Shen Qingyi for the first time…

Nearly all three meals a day consisted of takeout. Shen Qingyi’s stomach was starting to feel uncomfortable. She didn’t notice it when she ate takeout daily before, but after Shan Ling moved in, she hadn’t eaten takeout for such a long period again until now.

This had been going on for several days in a row. Shan Ling was perfectly fine, but Shen Qingyi’s stomach was really bothering her.

After takeout breakfast and takeout lunch, by evening, Shen Qingyi finally decided to cook a meal herself.

Shan Ling had rested well these past two days. Moving slowly like a turtle meant her butt wouldn’t hurt. She was currently leaning against the wall near the kitchen, watching Shen Qingyi preparing porridge.

“Yiyi, can you manage?” Shan Ling expressed great concern.

Shen Qingyi wiped the water clean from the inner pot with a rag, placed it in the rice cooker, pressed the porridge button, and said: “Making porridge is so simple. It shouldn’t be a problem. We happen to have some pickled mustard greens leftover from a previous takeout order. We can manage with that for one meal.”

Perhaps feeling that was too perfunctory, Shen Qingyi thought for a moment and said: “How about I bake some egg tarts too? I see we have egg tart shells and liquid at home.”

Shan Ling shook her head: “No sweets late at night. Porridge will be fine.”

Shen Qingyi then walked out of the kitchen, taking Shan Ling’s hand and saying: “Alright, then drink a little more porridge tonight, so you don’t get hungry in the middle of the night.”

“I won’t be hungry,” Shan Ling said helplessly: “These days, all I do is lie down and eat. I barely get out of bed, so I’m not hungry at all.”

“You still need to take care of your body,” Shen Qingyi glanced at Shan Ling and said: “Go lie on the sofa. It’s time to change the dressing.”

Shan Ling’s face suddenly turned red. She mumbled an “Mmm” and obediently went to the sofa, lying straight down on her stomach.

After the dressing was changed, Shan Ling felt much more comfortable in her lower back. She now leisurely lay on the sofa, swinging her legs and chatting sporadically with Shen Qingyi.

“Should we order a New Year’s Eve dinner from An Xin’s shop for the Spring Festival?” Shan Ling swung her feet, hugging the cushion, and asked: “I miss her cooking.”

“We can,” Shen Qingyi massaged Shan Ling’s shoulders, pressing on her back to help relax her muscles, and said calmly: “But you still shouldn’t go out. We’ll have her pack the food, and I’ll drive to the shop to pick it up. We’ll eat at home when I get back.”

“So I really can’t leave the house this whole time?” Shan Ling said miserably: “I haven’t been downstairs for almost a week.”

“Be more careful the next time you shower, and you can leave the house.”

“Ugh…”

Shan Ling finally compromised and said helplessly: “Then I’ll send Sister An Xin a message to ask her to pack the food for us. That way, we won’t take up one of her tables.”

Shen Qingyi had no objection. They discussed the time for pickup, and since the two of them couldn’t eat much, they decided on five dishes.

Time flew by, and soon it was New Year’s Eve.

The weather was gloomy today. The little sparrows told Shan Ling that there was a high probability of a heavy snowstorm today, and it would likely be difficult for them to find food until the snow melted.

Shan Ling thought about her personal food stockpile. Before the holiday, she had stored some bird feed and grains. Even a hundred little birds would have enough to get through a peaceful holiday.

However, Shan Ling still planned to give the little birds a special meal. After all, it was a major holiday, and everyone should be happy.

“Are you going out?”

At that moment, Shan Ling saw Shen Qingyi enter the bedroom and open the closet to take out a coat. Shan Ling sat up and said: “I feel much better now. Let’s go out together.”

Shen Qingyi looked back. Shan Ling was sitting perfectly straight with a firm posture, and there was no look of strain on her face.

Shan Ling had been resting in bed for over a week. She only felt pain when she slightly tossed and turned in her sleep. For the rest of the time, she was completely fine. So, today she boldly suggested leaving the house.

She couldn’t keep a little bird locked up at home forever; she would get cabin fever.

“Alright,” Shen Qingyi thought for a moment and said: “But we are only going to pick up the food. We’ll come right back. You still can’t wander around freely.”

“Okay!” Shan Ling slowly got out of bed, covering her lower back, and cheerfully moved closer to Shen Qingyi: “It looks like it’s going to snow today. Let’s go and come back quickly!”

Shen Qingyi smiled, took Shan Ling’s coat and scarf from the closet, and helped her put them on, bundling her up warmly.

Before getting into the car, Shen Qingyi took a cushion from the back seat. Shan Ling sat in the passenger seat, comfortable leaning against the soft cushion, and her waist didn’t hurt as much. Plus, since she had finally gotten downstairs, her spirits were much better.

After fastening the seatbelt, Shen Qingyi confirmed the location of the restaurant and drove off with Shan Ling.

Shan Ling, who could finally leave the house after many days, looked at the dark sky outside the window, thinking that tonight would indeed bring a very heavy snowfall.

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