Qiuqiu was a mostly white cat with tortoiseshell markings on its head, back, and tail.
If not for the former cat boss vouching for this strange human, Lin Lan, Qiuqiu would have long since darted back inside the house to hide.
But before it could instinctively retreat a couple of steps, the little cat suddenly realized it had understood the words this human had just spoken.
The two steps Qiuqiu had taken back, it now took forward, looking up at Lin Lan who had already crouched down, its cat eyes wide and round: "Meow...! Mew!" (Did you see Grandpa? He hasn't come back for so long! He went so far away for hunting this time!)
Suddenly hearing news of its caretaker, the patterned cat's cry was excited and shrill, yet undeniably naive.
Grandpa Li had been suddenly hospitalized due to illness and ultimately passed away in the hospital, so this cat still didn't know its caretaker had already died.
"Yes, he went very far away for hunting this time..." Lin Lan's voice involuntarily grew strained, "So he got injured and can't come back here anymore."
Having been told beforehand to hide well, Song Xinmin, who could only peek at the unfolding situation from the doorway of Grandpa Jiang's house, couldn't hear clearly what his boss, who had walked further away, was saying to the cat while crouched there.
Though he couldn't hear the human speech, the cat's cries from behind were very clear—changing from initially excited and shrill to mournful wails after the boss finished speaking.
Mournful wails? Did the boss tell Qiuqiu that Grandpa Li was gone through her level-ten cat language?
In front of the empty house's door, Qiuqiu anxiously circled around Lin Lan, meowing mournfully from time to time, wanting Lin Lan to take it to find Grandpa Li.
"Qiuqiu." As the cat pawed at her pants leg, Lin Lan reached out, picked it up, and began stroking its fur, "Qiuqiu, you're a grown-up cat, you should know too. Grandpa Li was old, he actually didn't have much strength left for hunting and foraging."
"Meow..." (I'll go hunting, I'll find food for Grandpa!)
This naive tone was familiar, eerily reminiscent of the scene when Snowflake brought her food, but Lin Lan couldn't bring herself to smile.
"That won't work. Grandpa Li failed in his hunt, he can't eat what you bring, so his children will take care of him." Using the tone of someone telling a white lie to a child, Lin Lan only hoped the cat's grief would be lighter, "He was old, it will take a very, very long time for his injuries to heal, so long that he won't be able to come back to see you."
The cat's mournful cries sounded again, and Lin Lan reached out to pat its head.
"That's why he asked me to come. Grandpa Li gave me a very important task, he told me I must come and tell you." Holding the cat securely in the crook of her arm, Lin Lan walked backwards, leading it away from the old house's door, "Grandpa Li told me to tell you that even though he can't come back, the important task of guarding the home still falls to you. But this time, Grandpa Li wants you to not only watch over the original home, but also this house next door, which will be part of your territory from now on."
As she said this, she pointed towards Grandpa Jiang's house next door while stroking the cat's head.
Like other animals, cats have their own sense of territory. Just like Snowflake, cats don't just care about their own territory; they also pay attention to all the creatures living within it. The relationship between each house cat and humans is different. Some cats see humans as the boss, relying on their servants to clean their litter boxes; but there are also cats who see themselves as the boss of the humans, considering themselves the head of the household, endlessly worrying over those two-legged creatures.
The patterned cat Qiuqiu was the latter.
Suddenly hearing this request, Qiuqiu was momentarily stunned. Of course it knew the house and person next door, and was familiar with them.
"Meow..." (Was this place also Grandpa's territory?)
"Yes, it was newly expanded on the day Grandpa Li went out hunting." Lin Lan said without batting an eye, "He was old and injured, and can't continue patrolling his new territory. He told me to tell you that this new territory and the person inside can only be left for you to take care of from now on."
Qiuqiu fell silent, or rather, hadn't digested this news yet.
Lin Lan wasn't in a hurry, just carried it towards Grandpa Jiang's house: "You don't believe me? If you don't believe me, you can go in and sniff. There are several things with your grandpa's scent inside."
As soon as she said this, almost without Lin Lan needing to do anything, the little cat pushed off with its feet, jumped from her embrace, and scurried into Grandpa Jiang's house.
Inside the Jiang family's old house, Grandpa Jiang had just finished digging out the items Grandpa Li had given him in the past and, as agreed beforehand, had scattered them in conspicuous places around the house when he heard Qiuqiu calling and running into his home.
"It really came in?" Qiuqiu, who had previously refused to leave home no matter how they tried to lure it, had now actively entered his house. Grandpa Jiang was both surprised and delighted, "Qiuqiu, oh Qiuqiu!" Bending his old waist, he tried to pick up the cat.
And then he missed.
The patterned cat was busy confirming the items in the house that carried Grandpa Li's scent. Only after truly smelling the familiar odor did the cat gradually stop circling.
And then it was picked up again by Lin Lan.
"So, Qiuqiu? I didn't lie to you, right? This will be your new home from now on." Grandpa Jiang heard the young woman holding Qiuqiu say this to the cat, but she was moving towards him, "This is Grandpa Jiang, you know him. From now on, he'll be relying on you to watch over him."
After listening to Lin Lan's words, Qiuqiu turned its little head towards Grandpa Jiang, who was looking at it eagerly. After staring for a moment, it gave a soft "meow" towards him.
"Qiuqiu, this... what does it mean?" Although the old man didn't understand cat language, he still grasped something from that cry, but Grandpa Jiang himself didn't dare believe it and wanted further confirmation.
Lin Lan didn't disappoint him, smiling as she handed the cat over: "Just as you thought, Qiuqiu acknowledges this as its new home. From now on, it won't just stay here; it will also patrol that old house over there. It will become a guard cat with territory spanning two houses."
Grandpa Jiang understood. This young woman must have used some method to extend Qiuqiu's territorial awareness from the Li family's old house to his own. The items with Old Man Li's scent were auxiliary measures. Now, it was done very successfully.
"Good, that's just fine, couldn't be better." Holding the cat, Grandpa Jiang slowly sat back in his usual chair, placed the cat on his lap, and gently stroked it, "Qiuqiu, from now on, I'll take care of you. I'm different from Old Man Li; my body is still strong. Even if I get sick, my children are willing to continue taking care of you for me. Don't be afraid, no one will abandon you again."
The old man's hoarse voice was gentle, carrying that distinctive tranquil aura of living beings in their twilight years, giving Qiuqiu a feeling it had always been familiar with.
The patterned cat lay quietly on Grandpa Jiang's lap. Under the old man's rhythmic strokes, it slowly began to purr.
It had already accepted this place as its own territory, its own home.
And a new two-legged creature to protect.
After declining Grandpa Jiang's earnest thanks and his offer to give something as a token of gratitude, Lin Lan and Song Xinmin left the old street alley and began their journey back.
"The shop manager's cat training skills are really amazing, resolving Qiuqiu's situation in just half a day!" Song Xinmin was quite excited. This girl beside him, at most only a few years older, was probably the most skilled cat trainer he had ever met in his life.
You must know that among the few animals humans have fully domesticated, cats are not included. They can only be considered semi-domesticated at best. Even their adorable meows are a language specifically invented to curry favor with humans for survival. Compared to dogs, the difficulty of training them is imaginable.
But these difficulties were nothing in the hands of the shop manager. She had a deep understanding of cats' emotional shifts and could always cleverly figure out the next step.
"A bit of luck was involved," Lin Lan humbly waved her hand. "If I hadn't heard you mention that your neighbor Grandpa Jiang wanted to adopt a cat, resolving Qiuqiu's problem wouldn't have been so easy."
She was modest with her words, but inwardly she breathed a sigh of relief.
It just goes to show communication is key. If she didn't have that golden finger—the ability to talk to cats—it wouldn't have been so easy to successfully win over a little kitten in such a short time. Just getting it to willingly expand its territory, to include Grandpa Jiang's household into its own protected domain, would have been enough to exhaust her efforts.
Being able to communicate, with a cat that has the intelligence of a two or three-year-old at most? That was a breeze to handle.
Oh, there are some exceptions too.
"By the way, I just spoke with the cat boss. It said it's willing to cooperate with you for a few photos today." As Lin Lan spoke, she rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a few cat cans she kept for emergencies. "Consider these its modeling fee for these three days. Remember to deliver them after you finish your shoot. You're free to go about your business now, I'm heading back to mind the shop."
Stuffing the cans into Song Xinmin's hands, Lin Lan called out a goodbye and headed straight back.
It was almost noon, and with the young lady alone watching the tea shop, Shop Manager Lin was still a bit worried.
When she returned to the small building, it was just mealtime. Her mother had just finished cooking lunch and was about to pack it into boxes to deliver to the person minding the shop downstairs.
Seeing her daughter was back, she directly handed the packing task over to her.
"So, how did it go? The calico cat settled?" She naturally wouldn't miss the chance to ask during this time.
"All settled," Lin Lan replied, busy filling the food containers one by one. "The kitten has been successfully adopted by the neighbor, Grandpa Jiang. Their whole family really likes Qiuqiu, so we don't have to worry about the kitten being abandoned again if something happens to the old man later."
Wang Xiuzhi's face immediately lit up with relief upon hearing this: "That's good, that's really good."
Lin Lan felt the same way. Grandpa Jiang got his wish to adopt the calico cat, and the adopted Qiuqiu didn't abandon its old home, yet gained a new home and family. As a cat with a renewed sense of purpose, its future life would be peaceful and smooth.
Well, the cat boss had also resolved the livelihood difficulties of a former gang member who left the group, and she, also a shop manager, had helped one of her staff members resolve some difficulties with his photography work.
Mutually beneficial, a perfect ending.
Carrying the food containers, Lin Lan went downstairs back to the tea shop and received another delighted welcome from Wang Jiayi.
Of course, this one was also full of curiosity and questions, which Lin Lan naturally answered one by one.
The sensitive young lady actually got teary-eyed after hearing the whole story. Clutching her chopsticks, she lowered her head, choked up: "That's so wonderful, Lanlan. Qiuqiu has found happiness again. It's really too good that it won't be abandoned anymore."
"Your reaction is a bit exaggerated," Lin Lan said helplessly.
"It's not exaggerated at all!" Wang Jiayi puffed out her cheeks in rebuttal, bending down to pick up the Chinchilla cat nestled by her legs and holding it in her arms. "I just thought of my dear Silver. Before it met you, Shop Manager, it was abandoned by its owner and became a stray. That Qiuqiu is even more foolish than Silver, just stubbornly guarding the house and not going out. If it had starved to death like that, it would have been truly heartbreaking."
As she spoke, she lowered her head and rubbed her face against the cat. The Chinchilla lifted its little head and gave a soft meow to its exclusive poop-scooper, melting the young lady's heart, who immediately started nuzzling the cat again.
Meanwhile, Lin Lan, who understood cat language, stiffened her face and immediately decided to treat Silver's just-uttered sentence, "Servant, don't wipe the grease from your mouth onto my fur," as if she hadn't heard it.
Actually, not understanding each other's language sometimes has its merits.
In times like these, a bit of false prosperity and a perfect relationship are still quite necessary.
Thinking this, Shop Manager Lin continued eating her meal.
After eating and drinking her fill, the young lady, who in the past wouldn't have lifted a finger for household chores, proactively took on the task of washing the dishes. Lin Lan was happy to be idle. After resting for a while, she went to the adjoining boarding room to check on the Bengal cat kept in the cage.
A few days had passed. Having grown accustomed to the environment, the Bengal cat had completely let go of its hostility and rejection towards Lin Lan. When Shop Manager Lin now opened the cage and reached out her hand, this former fierce feline obediently came out on its own and jumped into her arms.
"So, how about it, Gray? Interested in playing with the other cats in the shop?"
