"Yuanyuan." Lin Lan walked towards the long-haired cat sitting with its back to them and called its name softly. She took a cat treat stick from her pocket and tore it open. "Yuanyuan, look here. I've got a snack for you."
The cat, which had been aloof towards people due to its pain, immediately turned its head, its eyes wide and round.
"Meow..." (Why can I understand you?)
Lin Lan, of course, couldn't answer that question in front of the humans. She just smiled and waved the treat stick. "Your family hired me to help solve your problems. You can tell me all your troubles, and I'll try to find a way to fix them."
Shortly after arriving, Lin Lan had identified a key issue with the cat, instantly boosting the client family's trust in her significantly.
Especially when she then approached the cat, smiling and greeting it as she crouched down. The usually wary-towards-strangers Yuanyuan not only didn't run away but actively stretched its head out to sniff her hand. It then allowed her to pet its head without any biting, even meowing at her in a coquettish manner, as if complaining. At this point, the family had no more doubts about what Lin Lan said.
Well... the Yuan family wasn't wrong. Their cat really was complaining non-stop.
(This place is no good at all! It's full of annoying strangers everywhere!)
(I've told Leilei and Mom many times that my back hurts, but they always touch the sore spot!)
(And some outsiders are always provoking me! This is my territory!)
(I have to protect this home. I absolutely won't let them invade successfully!)
"So, Miss Lin, about Yuanyuan suddenly liking to urinate everywhere and scratch the furniture in the villa..." After hearing from his returning wife that the afternoon vet appointment was booked, the master of the house timely brought up the remaining concerns.
At that moment, Lin Lan, having just finished her negotiation with Yuanyuan, stretched out her hands towards the cat. The cat, known for biting people, actually jumped into her arms on its own, adjusted to a comfortable position, and settled peacefully in Lin Lan's arms.
The adults were merely astonished, but the little girl, Leilei, had already opened her mouth wide with a "Wow!" "Sister Lin, Yuanyuan let you hold it! I haven't been able to hold Yuanyuan for so long!" By the end, the little girl was pouting as if jealous.
"Because it's injured. Once the vet treats it and it gets better, Yuanyuan will definitely let you hold it," Lin Lan comforted the child with a smile before turning to the homeowners with the cat in her arms. "Could you show me around the house?"
"Of course, of course!" The husband and wife nodded repeatedly. To solve a problem, naturally, one needs to see the entire scene.
The villa had five floors and was equipped with a home elevator. After confirming the cat hadn't urinated on the stairs, Lin Lan opted for the lazy route and took the elevator.
Starting from the third floor, each level of the villa had a scenic balcony, offering easy views of Xicheng's lush mountain scenery and the wetland park. If not for the occasional whiff of urine, it would have been a perfect place to live.
"Mr. Yuan, Mrs. Yuan, you probably know that animals like to use excrement and claw marks to mark their territory and define their domain, right?" Lin Lan spoke while looking around with the family. "Cats are the same. You mentioned Yuanyuan wasn't like this when you first moved in. Its sudden irritability is precisely because, after marking this villa as its territory, it was invaded or provoked by other animals."
Hearing this, the homeowners were taken aback.
"Miss Lin, are you saying... other animals have entered our house? And Yuanyuan discovered them?" the master of the house followed up.
The mistress, who was often at home, lowered her head in thought. "Now that you mention it... I have indeed seen birds flying over from the mountain several times on the top floor. Once, I even saw Yuanyuan chasing them up there."
"I saw it too!" Little Leilei raised her hand high. "I also saw weasels and foxes, and cats, in the garden downstairs! I wanted to catch them, but they ran away too fast." The little girl sounded a bit unhappy at this point.
Lin Lan and the others looked at her in surprise. They hadn't expected such a little tomboy, so bold at such a young age.
The mistress, however, changed her expression. "Where in the garden did you see them?" Had the wall failed?
Unaware of her mother's concern, the little girl pointed naturally towards the northwest corner downstairs, tilting her head innocently. "Right over there, where Mom planted the camellias! When I chased them, I found a small hole in the wall there. They went through it so easily, but I couldn't fit..."
If you could fit through that hole, you'd have been discovered long ago.
The case was basically solved. The gentle house cat's sudden aggression was due to the villa being invaded by surrounding wildlife.
Actually, thinking about it, this wasn't surprising at all. This villa area was built against a mountain, right next to the natural oxygen bar of the wetland park. It would be strange if there were no wild animals. The property management had surely kept dangerous animals out, but they couldn't stop the less dangerous, small-bodied creatures from roaming and scurrying around the neighborhood.
Conflicts between these transient wild outsiders and a house cat with a fixed territory were highly likely to occur.
"The cat's fall and injury might also have happened during a tussle with those animals," Yuan Jiaqing muttered.
Cheng Fengyang, who had been silent beside him, nodded thoughtfully, his gaze fixed on the cat in Lin Lan's arms. "I heard your family mention this cat is about six years old. That's middle-aged to elderly for a cat. Its physical condition is declining, so injuries definitely don't heal as well as they used to." He suddenly thought of his own dog, Xingxing. Thankfully, his dog was still in its prime; a bit of baldness could be fixed with some hair growth serum quickly.
While Cheng Fengyang was lost in thought, the mistress grew anxious.
"You child, why didn't you tell me after finding out!" She scolded her playful daughter and wanted to go downstairs to check, but her husband stopped her.
"Miss Lin, the smell is strongest on the top floor. Does that mean wild animals often come here?" The master of the house held his wife back and asked Lin Lan.
Lin Lan didn't answer directly. Instead, she looked down at the cat in her arms.
Yuanyuan immediately jumped down from Lin Lan's arms and ran towards a specific spot.
"Follow it," she said and chased after the cat. Naturally, the whole group followed.
Soon, guided by the cat, they found a small window in the attic. Through it, they saw a bird's nest that had been built at some point on a decorative chimney at a corner of the roof.
The nest was already empty and half-damaged, clearly abandoned by its builders for some time. However, the bird droppings on the tiles around the nest were quite fresh, and some of the small skylight windows were even smeared with a couple of droppings.
"So, the cat and the birds are feuding?" Cheng Fengyang covered his nose and mouth, complaining.
"Perhaps it can be considered the birds provoking the cat," Yuan Jiaqing spoke, his hand also covering his nose. "It's unbearable, the smell of urine is too strong. It's a good thing no one ever comes up to this attic, or they'd really be suffocated."
"I had no idea it had gotten so foul-smelling here at home!" The lady of the house was perhaps the most distraught. Unable to bring herself to be angry at her beloved cat, she instead shot fiery glances at the bird droppings on the roof.
"The areas with the strongest urine smell and the most claw marks need careful attention, as they indicate the places the cat is most heavily guarding." Lin Lan took the cat back into her arms, also speaking with a pinched nose and voice. "We've finished looking upstairs. Let's go check the garden."
The whole group, all pinching their noses, hastily left the area, not wanting to stay a second longer.
Arriving at the ground-level garden, the fresh open air allowed everyone to breathe a sigh of relief. However, Mrs. Yuan had already immediately grabbed her daughter, having her lead the way to find the hole in the wall.
Behind the dense camellias, they found a hole about the size of a child's head, covered by lawn and vegetation. If the child hadn't pointed it out, you'd easily miss it at first glance.
During the search for the hole, the cat Yuanyuan had incidentally led them to discover various other animal droppings scattered here and there in the garden.
In a sense, this villa, with its high-level security for humans, was full of holes and easily accessible in the eyes of animals.
"I'm sorry, Yuanyuan. I wrongly blamed you." The lady of the house carefully took the cat back, looking genuinely weary. "I thought you had become bad-tempered for no reason. I didn't realize it was like this."
Putting themselves in its place, if a person had to constantly outwit unwelcome intruders trying to get into their home every day, it'd be strange if they weren't irritable.
At this point, Lin Lan's task was largely complete.
"Yuanyuan lacks a basic sense of security in this house, which requires effort from both Mr. and Mrs. Yuan. Until the wild animals stop coming to the villa, I suggest placing litter boxes in the corners with the strongest smells. That should improve the situation somewhat," Lin Lan told the couple. "As for how to deter these wild animals and stop them from breaking in, that's not my area of expertise. You'll need to hire another specialist for that. And most importantly, please get treatment for Yuanyuan soon. It's been enduring pain all this time and is really suffering."
"We will," the lady of the house nodded immediately, her face full of gratitude. "Thank you, Miss Lin. You've really been a huge help!"
"You're welcome. This result is also because you were willing to trust me."
Lin Lan replied with a smile, looking down at the cat in her arms. Because the lady was holding the cat correctly, Yuanyuan no longer struggled, lying obediently in its owner's embrace, its tail even wagging happily a little. This unconsciously softened Lin Lan's gaze, and she couldn't help adding,
"Mr. and Mrs. Yuan, a cat's lifespan is generally only a dozen or so years. With careful care, they can live into their twenties, even close to thirty. Yuanyuan is no longer young, but it still sees you two as its parents. You've always given it love, and it's been returning that affection in its own way. The fact that you found each other and live together is truly a rare bond."
The Yuan couple also looked down at the cat. Although the process was hard to accept, it really had been protecting this home; they just hadn't understood it as humans.
"We will," the husband said, reaching out to rub the kitten's head. "It's long been a member of the family, another one of our children."
Next came the discussion on how to make the villa secure. Lin Lan was completely out of her depth on this, but Cheng Fengyang, being an interior designer, understood.
So, for the remainder, Lin Lan became a pure listener, just like Cheng Fengyang who had stayed quiet earlier. She listened to him and the homeowners discuss how to modify the wall, what electronic repellents to install in the building and garden, and so on. While she found it impressive though not fully understood, she also felt like she was learning something.
Unable to refuse the hosts' enthusiastic insistence, the two stayed for a sumptuous lunch, sat for a while longer after the meal, and then took their leave.
As they were leaving, the lady of the house firmly pressed a thick envelope into Lin Lan's hands, thanking her repeatedly and saying that once the situation was completely resolved, she would send another big red envelope of thanks.
It wasn't until Lin Lan was back in Cheng Fengyang's car that she curiously peeked inside the envelope.
"Wow—" She let out an exclamation but quickly closed her mouth, sealed the envelope, and stuffed it into her bag.
"So, not a bad gig, right?" Cheng Fengyang, who was driving beside her, couldn't help but laugh when he saw this.
"Ahem, thank you, Fengyang." Lin Lan felt a bit embarrassed now.
Cheng Fengyang glanced at her sideways. Seeing her eyes darting around, he knew she was already thinking about how to repay the favor. He quickly said, "No need to thank me. We helped each other out today. Didn't you see? Right after you finished with the cat consultation, I landed a new project. A win-win!"
He really didn't want Lin Lan to always keep everything so clearly separate between them. If the accounts were settled too distinctly, how would he ever have a chance to mix things up and get closer?
Hearing him say this, Lin Lan's mouth twitched slightly, and she fell silent, her expression somewhat complicated.
Since she didn't speak, Cheng Fengyang didn't know what else to say either. The car suddenly grew quiet.
The atmosphere wasn't exactly awkward, but it wasn't relaxed either. It carried a slight tension all the way until they arrived home.
As usual, Cheng Fengyang first parked the car by the small building, waited for Lin Lan to get out, then turned the car around and drove towards the entrance of his own residential complex across the street.
Lin Lan watched the car drive away. As she turned to walk back, she saw her mother standing at the entrance of the small grocery store.
Wang Xiuzhi beckoned to her daughter, who immediately came over.
"What's up, Mom?" Her mother had called her over, so Lin Lan didn't mind, talking as she walked into the store. She very skillfully took a drink from the shelf, turned to Wang Xiuzhi and said, "Mom, let me tell you, I made a lot from this side job. This one trip earned me this much!" She even gestured a number with her hand.
Wang Xiuzhi watched her daughter's jubilant face, listened as she later mentioned the client would still give a thank-you red envelope, and even showed her the envelope from her bag. However, Wang Xiuzhi's expression remained faint throughout.
Her mother's reaction left Lin Lan at a loss. "What's wrong? Aren't you happy that I earned money?"
"It's not that I'm unhappy. How could I not be happy that you're making good money?" Wang Xiuzhi glanced at the thick envelope, then at her still-confused daughter, and sighed. "This job was introduced by that young man Cheng, right?"
"Yes."
"And that table at the tea house before, that was also a prize he 'gave' you from a lottery, right?"
"Yes..." As Lin Lan listened, she started to feel uneasy. "But I treated him to a meal."
"Right, you treated him to a meal as thanks." Wang Xiuzhi sat back down on the stool behind the counter and looked up at her daughter. "So, Lanlan, what do you think of Xiao Cheng? He's made his intentions so obvious, you can't be unaware, right?"
What did she think? Lin Lan was momentarily stunned, but facing her mother, she decided not to hide her thoughts. After a moment's consideration, she voiced her opinion.
"Well... he's interested in me, but I'm not at that stage yet. We're good friends who get along well right now. He's a nice person, I don't dislike him."
Not disliking him means there's potential!
Being a woman herself, Mother Lin naturally understood this kind of female reasoning, especially when her daughter had outright admitted the other party's interest. Wang Xiuzhi felt she couldn't let her daughter continue like this.
"Lanlan, you're 26 this year. Although with our family's standing, you'll definitely have no trouble finding a husband, your age is a fact that can't be ignored." Wang Xiuzhi looked at her daughter. "Xiao Cheng is a good man. Your father and I have looked into his family background; it's quite compatible with ours. I know you don't say it out loud, but deep down you're still holding onto last year's incident and refusing to date again. But good men are a scarce resource at any time. If you hesitate now and miss out, you'll regret it later, and it'll be too late."
Lin Lan almost choked on her soda. "Mom, are you serious? Are you joining the marriage-pressure brigade too?" Hadn't she just boasted to a tenant at the end of last year? Was she about to be proven wrong this year?
"It's not about pressuring you to marry." Wang Xiuzhi shot her daughter an exasperated look. "Someone like you, I know you'd still be sought after even past 30, but finding a man who's genuinely caring and attentive is hard. Since you were little and so pretty, you've never been short of boys trying to win your favor, but because you've always had a good head on your shoulders, your father and I trusted you. Over the years, we've seen quite a few young men, but there really haven't been many like Xiao Cheng who you click with so well. You might not realize it yourself, but your father and I can tell—you've never actively invited the same guy out for meals several times in a row before, and every time you meet him, you have a smile on your face."
Lin Lan was taken aback, unconsciously tightening her grip on the drink bottle.
Seeing her daughter's confused expression, Wang Xiuzhi knew she hadn't realized any of this. She couldn't help but sigh again, reaching out to take one of her daughter's hands in her own, giving it a gentle pat.
"You're usually so sharp about everything else, aren't you? Whether it's work, running the shop, or training the kittens, you handle it all so well. Why are you so neglectful about your own personal matters?" Her eyes held concern as she looked at her daughter. "I just hope you don't let past bad experiences hold you back in the present."
