People who don't own cats will never understand the joy of waking up to a little kitten sleeping beside you, ready to shower you with affection.
"As soon as I opened my eyes this morning, I saw it sleeping on top of the quilt. I called its name, and it stretched before padding over, meowing and rubbing against me... Having a cat is really wonderful! Lin Lan, I finally understand why you have a cat at home too, and why so many tenants in the building keep pets!"
Miss Wei, whose soul had long been worn down by an endless life of coding, suddenly felt a surge of vitality. This once-dedicated otaku even began actively seeking out fellow cat enthusiasts to chat with. Her eyes lit up whenever she talked about her beloved cat.
She needed to work hard, earn more money, and then buy a big house to raise Niannian in!
Lin Lan, who had listened to her gush about her cat the entire time: "Heh."
On the night of the second day of the Lunar New Year, Wei Yan was once again on night duty, but she no longer felt the previous misery and lethargy about going to work. On the contrary, she was full of energy.
She loved overtime! The night shift allowance was great! Triple pay was truly wonderful!
Lin Lan: "Well then... good luck with your shift."
Watching Miss Wei, her backpack slung over her shoulders, head out to work with such energetic, cat-slave enthusiasm, Lin Lan wore an inscrutable expression.
Miss Wei, after getting a cat, it's not all about them being cute, soft, and letting you pet them whenever you want. Leaving aside the universal issues of cats shedding fur and loving to have midnight zoomies, just wait until Niannian gives you a big surprise soon.
Shopkeeper Lin wouldn't tell her these things. It would be too unkind to pour cold water on her during the Spring Festival. It was more meaningful for her to discover and experience these things personally.
On the third day of the Lunar New Year, the Lao Yu family of three returned from their hometown.
"Lanlan-jie, we're back!" Yu Lingling stood at the door and knocked first, followed by Uncle Yu and Aunt Yu carrying New Year goods. "We brought some ham and mushrooms from our hometown. They taste amazing!... Little Kui seems to have gotten a bit chubbier!"
The middle school student bounced into the room and looked up to see the large white parrot, already out of its cage, lowering its head to crack open pistachios. The gluttonous bird was so engrossed in the delicious nuts that it didn't even notice its little owner standing right in front of it.
"Not chubbier, just had a bath this morning, so the feathers look a bit fluffier." Leaving the task of New Year greetings to the elders, Lin Lan spoke to Yu Lingling. "The cage is on the balcony. Will you put it in the cage to take it away later, or let it perch on your hand?"
"Of course on my hand." Having raised the bird for seven years since childhood, they were already familiar. Yu Lingling wasn't worried at all that Little Kui would fly off when going outside. But the young girl's head was swiveling around the living room. "Lanlan-jie, where are the cats you're fostering? Aren't they here?"
"They're in the room next door." Lin Lan knew what Yu Lingling was worried about and pointed a finger at the parrot still eating nuts. "Your Little Kui is too mischievous. Not only can't you keep it in its cage without a lock, but it also secretly pecks at the cats' tails. To make sure you didn't come back to only find a few feathers, I had to move the kittens somewhere else to separate them."
"Ah?" Yu Lingling was surprised but immediately believed it. "That rotten bird Little Kui has always been super annoying. It's totally something it would do. Once when I was doing homework at home, it even hid my pen, making me search forever without finding it, while it cackled on the side! I was so angry I wanted to hit it, but my mom stopped me." By the end, her mouth was puffed out in a pout.
The angry reaction of the ten-year-old girl was quite adorable, but her pouting expression reminded Lin Lan of the exact same expression Wang Jiayi made when she refused her on New Year's Day.
So that's how it is. Even if the young lady isn't a primary school student, she's at most at the middle schooler level.
Not far away, Yu Lingling's parents had finished exchanging greetings with the Lin family. Aunt Yu called out to her daughter, "Lingling, time to go. Bring Little Kui."
"Okay!" Yu Lingling responded and skillfully extended her arm in front of the parrot. "Little Kui, stop eating. Time to go home."
The cockatoo lifted a claw and grasped onto the little owner's thick clothing, moving up her arm with just the right amount of pressure until it settled on her shoulder.
"Lanlan-jie, I'll come find you to play after we get settled at home!"
The Lao Yu family left with their bird and birdcage, leaving behind several bags of sliced ham, cured meat, and some mushrooms.
Father Lin and Mother Lin carried all these agricultural specialties into the kitchen to sort and store them. Lin Youyu felt a bit regretful: "If we didn't have to visit relatives for dinner today, I'd really like to steam some of that ham right now and make a clay pot rice with cured meat."
Hearing her dad say that suddenly made Lin Lan crave it too. The ham from Uncle Yu's hometown was so fragrant.
Wang Xiuzhi, however, shot her husband a look: "Haven't you had enough of big fish and meat every meal these past few days? And you're already thinking about the ham."
The carnivorous Father Lin and Lin Lan shook their heads in unison: "Not enough. How could it ever be enough?" They wouldn't get tired of three meat meals a day, let alone during the New Year when the meat dishes were different every meal.
Looking at this father-daughter pair, the mother decided she didn't want to speak.
Today the whole family was going out to a relative's house for lunch and dinner, so Lin Lan naturally had to prepare the kittens' food. Homemade cat food wasn't feasible, so she could only rely on dry food, supplemented by an automatic water dispenser that kept the water warm. It wasn't a big problem.
"I'm heading out now. You all need to be good at home, understand? No chewing on wires, no scratching at the doors or windows..." Lin Lan gave the kittens a list of instructions and warnings.
"Meow!" (We know, Lanlan! Be careful hunting outside!)
"Meow—!" (Winter is cold, food is scarce. It's okay if you can't catch anything. There's plenty of food here too!)
Lin Lan didn't know whether to laugh or cry and was about to explain, "I'm not..."
"Lanlan, are you ready? Time to go!" Before she could finish, her mother's urging interrupted her.
"Coming!" Lin Lan immediately got up and ran towards the door. "I'll try to come back as early as I can. Bye!"
Visiting relatives' homes followed the same old routine: New Year greetings, chatting, eating, handing out lucky money, and then dispersing.
Lin Lan was an adult now. Although still single, she was automatically considered ineligible for lucky money. On the contrary, when she saw the children of her peers, she had to take out red envelopes to give them.
This New Year she was already 26, and many of her cousins and siblings from her generation were married, some even with children. Facing these nuclear families of three, Lin Lan had to admit she felt a bit of pressure, but not much.
—Because the relatives all agreed that even if Lin Lan played around until she was 30, she still wouldn't have to worry about getting married.
So compared to Cheng Fengyang's miserable situation back in his hometown, where even his nephews mocked him for being single, Lin Lan had none of that. Instead, after distributing many red envelopes, she harvested a lot of sweet talk from the younger generation. Things like "Auntie Lanlan is the prettiest" and "Auntie Lanlan will always be a fairy." For the sake of little red envelopes, the kids' flattery came one after another.
Having emptied the red envelopes from her pockets, Lin Lan fell into deep thought. Especially after seeing those children have their red envelopes confiscated by their mothers right after receiving them from her, she was troubled by a life question.
This question continued to trouble Lin Lan all the way home, her expression still serious.
"What's with that face the whole way home?" Wang Xiuzhi couldn't help but ask her daughter, who had been silent the entire trip.
Lin Youyu was also curious, but he only looked up from settling onto the sofa and turning on the TV to ask during a brief pause: "Yeah, sweetie, was your aunt's food not tasty enough, or were the dishes lacking?"
The TV had just come on, showing a New Year's commercial for snacks featuring a little boy and girl bowing to their elders in a scene awash with festive red.
"No, I was just thinking about the red envelopes," Lin Lan ignored her dad's teasing, her eyes on the TV where a scene of giving New Year's money was playing. "Mom, I must have gotten quite a few red envelopes when I was little, and you took them all for safekeeping."
"Yes, so?" Wang Xiuzhi was puzzled. Wasn't that just the usual practice? What was wrong with that? This topic drew the attention of Grandma Lin and Lin Youyu, who both looked over.
Then they saw Lin Lan maintain a serious face as she extended a hand towards her mother: "I only remembered today at my aunt's house—when you took my red envelopes, you also said you'd give me the New Year's money when I grew up. Well, I'm all grown up now, and I even have my own shop. Mom, shouldn't you give me back all that New Year's money?"
The whole family suddenly fell silent.
The New Year's money Lin Lan had received over the years from childhood onwards added up to quite a sum, but like most kids, those red envelopes had a beginning but no clear ending; their whereabouts had long been lost in the mists of memory.
Father Lin and Grandma Lin wore subtle expressions, both looking at the mother who was now under her daughter's scrutiny, their lips trembling as if they might burst out laughing at any moment.
Meanwhile, the mother looked at her daughter's outstretched hand, smiled after a moment, and gently patted the offered palm with a kindly expression.
"Silly girl, in your mother's heart, you'll always be a child who never quite grows up."
So, getting the New Year's money back was impossible. Forever impossible.
"Pfft—hahahaha!" Lin Youyu was the first to lose it, slapping his thigh with uproarious laughter, while Grandma beside him chuckled nonstop.
Lin Lan stared at her mother, dumbfounded. Finally, amidst her father and grandmother's uncontrollable laughter, she could only admit defeat. Her mother was an insurmountable wall she'd likely never get past in this lifetime.
Defeated, Lin Lan went off to seek solace with the cats. Her mother was too strong; the hope for those years of New Year's money was lost. Only the little cats could soothe her thousand sorrows.
Oh, the third day of the Lunar New Year would end tonight. Perhaps she should start getting ready to reopen the shop.
For many Chinese people, after the third day of the Lunar New Year, the festive atmosphere gradually fades. West City was no different, evident from the increasing number of people returning to the city for work and shops reopening on the streets.
On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, when Lin Lan reopened her teahouse, Tang Xiaoya also returned. After a quick tidy-up at her rental place, she rushed over to the teahouse in the afternoon to help.
"The company holiday lasts until the tenth, but I missed Mercury so much I came back early!" The decisive girl was just as energetic after the New Year, briskly shaking out a standard teahouse apron and putting it on. "Should I clean first or look after the cats?"
"Neither. Take this tray of tea snacks to Wang Jiayi's table," Lin Lan said, placing a prepared tray of tea snacks on the bar counter.
Tang Xiaoya was momentarily confused. "Jiayi? Didn't you always call her Miss Wang before?" She'd only been back to her hometown for a week. Had the shop owner and that delicate young lady's relationship progressed by leaps and bounds?
Sitting not far away—and currently the only customer—Wang Jiayi, who was still sulking over a rejected job application, perked up immediately upon hearing her annoying neighbor's surprise. She promptly lifted her chin proudly. "Hmph, didn't expect that, did you? Lan Lan and I are already good friends."
Seeing her smug look, Tang Xiaoya kept a straight face and ignored her.
"Yes, we're friends," Lin Lan said, not letting Wang Jiayi get too carried away to prevent another clash between the two. "So your idea of working at the teahouse is absolutely out of the question."
That single sentence deflated the previously triumphant young lady once more.
Now it was Tang Xiaoya's turn to be pleased. Happily, she carried the tray over with the tea snacks. "Miss Wang, your tea snacks," she said, flashing a subtle, triumphant look as she walked away.
A clumsy person who survives daily on hotel takeout and a cleaning auntie, wanting to work a job, and in the service industry no less? Wishful thinking.
Miss Wang, with sharp perception, caught the disdain and contempt in that glance. Her face flushed red with anger, and her cheeks puffed out.
"Lan Lan!" she exploded on the spot, shouting. "I want to be a teahouse employee! Not full-time, part-time is fine! Even three hours a day is okay! I don't need pay! Any conditions are fine! I just want to work at your shop!"
The provoked young lady's temper flared up, determined not to give up until she got her way.
Lin Lan: "..."
Meanwhile, at the pet clinic that also reopened on the fourth day of the New Year.
"Your Niannian is pregnant," Dr. Liu said to Miss Wei after the cat's checkup. "Preliminary estimates suggest she's almost three weeks along."
