In the small grooming room, Wang Jiayi's newly purchased deshedding tool was buzzing away. Beneath her hands, the Ragdoll cat Lanbao lay sprawled out like a rug, limbs splayed, letting the grooming brush head glide over its body. It even actively shifted its body closer for more brushing from time to time.
"Meow... meow." (Over here, a bit more over here... feels so good, meow. Lanlan, you should get one of these for home too.)
Lin Lan looked on speechlessly at this feline "second child" acting coquettishly to go on a shopping spree, her hand slowing slightly as she stroked the Munchkin cat La Chang.
Her gaze kept lingering there, leading Wang Jiayi to misunderstand. The young mistress pouted pitifully, "Don't look at me like that, Lanlan. I know this vacuum cleaner cost me almost two months' salary, which is pretty extravagant. But this is actually the cheapest appliance I've ever bought in my life, it didn't even reach five figures!"
Stop right there, you silly rich girl! Don't keep stabbing people with that "I've been so frugal" tone!
While inwardly grumbling, Lin Lan outwardly just nodded along. "It's quite practical, though, so it's not a bad purchase. When you go back home later, you can keep using it for Silver. That cat isn't afraid of the noise at all, so you can brush to your heart's content."
"Hehe, that's what I thought too." Receiving affirmation, Wang Jiayi immediately smiled with squinted eyes, shook the device in her hand, and continued brushing the cat. Soon, the Ragdoll's daily grooming session was complete. "Off you go, Lanbao."
Seeing the cat about to leave, Lin Lan quickly reminded, "Same as usual, you need to lounge by the display window for a while today."
"Meow!" (Got it, Lanlan!)
Squeezing through the deliberately pushed-open door crack, the Ragdoll cat left somewhat reluctantly and, familiar with the route, made its way to the shelves in the display window area. With a few leaps, it jumped up. For the next little while, it would be a literal display window Ragdoll, attracting customers from outside the shop.
Except for the first month after opening, when they paid attention to the color patterns and formation of the kittens, things had gotten more relaxed since. The flower-shaped shelf was easier, always having just one cat. The heart-shaped shelf, however, was a mixed bag. The stunning black cat heart formation that had once amazed Tang Xiaoya and many regular customers was long gone. Now, other breeds of kittens chose spots to lie or sit on it based on their mood.
Although not as novel and impressive as the black cat team, a heart formation made up of pretty kittens of different colors was still quite effective.
At this moment, at the very tip of the heart formation, sat a Russian Blue cat.
Its sitting posture was extremely upright and perfect. Its body, of a slender feline build, had long, well-proportioned lines. Facing the sunlight, its emerald-green eyes had pupils narrowed to slits. Its seal-colored fur took on a unique bluish hue under the sun's rays, and its tail hung down naturally. From a distance, it looked as pretty as a fake cat.
"Speaking of which," Wang Jiayi continued in the grooming room, chatting with Lin Lan as she kept brushing the cat, "ever since you showed Huihui that cat-and-dog fight video, it's been a lot livelier lately. On the first day the courtyard was opened, it was so timid it didn't even dare go near Gray. These past couple of days, it not only dares to jump onto the wheel first but has even been actively provoking Gray."
That's because Huihui now believes it's a kitten that can be a secret agent—meow—and is working hard towards that goal.
Another scrolling comment passed through Shopkeeper Lin's mind. She chuckled aloud, "Probably after seeing that Russian Blue on TV, which even dared to fight a dog, Huihui projected itself onto it and rebuilt its confidence."
"Is that so?" The young mistress first looked surprised, then couldn't help but laugh. "That sounds so silly, so easy to trick."
Lin Lan agreed wholeheartedly. "With an intelligence of at most two or three years old, isn't that exactly the age that's easy to be fooled?"
Chatting and laughing, the two of them finished the brushing work for the dozen or so cats in the teahouse.
Wang Jiayi was very satisfied with her current life. Although she had left the home where she had been meticulously cared for and come to this unfamiliar place, realizing that she had spent the past twenty-odd years unable to take care of herself and had been stumbling along until now, she found that she had actually always managed to get through unscathed.
She was lucky enough to find this small building through a random real estate agent.
She was also fortunate enough to enter this shop and meet Lin Lan, who was both the building's landlord and the shop owner.
Even Tang Xiaoya, the colleague and neighbor who initially disliked her because of her words and actions, had taught her many practical life things during this time.
Her past self really had been a princess living in a castle... Looking back, Wang Jiayi could honestly judge herself that way. Especially after working in the teahouse, encountering all sorts of customers as a waitress had truly opened her eyes. As she gained more life experience, she became increasingly aware of how lucky she was to have the kind of parents and family she did.
"Meow!" Something pawed at her calf. Wang Jiayi, who had been staring blankly behind the water bar counter after finishing work, snapped back to attention and saw the chinchilla cat had run up to her feet and was looking up at her.
Before Wang Jiayi could react, the snow-white Persian cat had already jumped into her lap, acting coquettishly and asking to be held.
"Good Silver, did you come to play with me?" The young mistress immediately hugged her beloved cat, habitually smoothing its fur. Her palm skillfully stroked all the way to the tip of its duster-like tail. The soft, silky touch of its fur unconsciously lifted her spirits. "Oh right, Lanlan has already agreed to let me take you home. When the time comes, I'll specially order your favorite cat tree maze, and vertical scratching posts too!"
"Meow..." Whether the Chinchilla actually understood or not, it let out an agreeing meow right after she finished speaking. Placing both paws on her stomach, it began a rhythmic pressing motion, pushing up and down.
"Ooh, are you making biscuits for me?" The young mistress's eyes lit up. "Lanlan said this is something kittens only do when they're very happy! You're happy to hear I can take you home too, right, good girl!" As she said this, she picked up the cat and planted a big mwah on its little head.
"Meow." (What are you doing, servant! I was really enjoying pressing that soft lump of flesh!)
The reproach in Silver's meow was completely lost on the young mistress, who thought it was just the kitten's habitual attention-seeking. Only Lin Lan, who happened to have business that brought her to the water bar counter, froze solid as if struck by a bolt from the blue.
Shopkeeper Lin subconsciously raised her hand and also pressed against her own lower abdomen. After feeling around and pressing a few times, her expression changed.
"Oh no!" Shopkeeper Lin cried out in alarm, making Wang Jiayi and her cat both look over. They saw her clutching her stomach with a grim expression, her eyes staring straight ahead. "I ate too well over the New Year! I've put on so much belly fat!"
As soon as those words were spoken, the young mistress, who had just been happily playing with her cat, also turned green. She immediately put the cat down and felt her own stomach. The feel to the touch—even softer than last year's—together with Silver's earlier biscuit-making movements, made her understand why. Her face was now even paler than Shopkeeper Lin's.
Lose weight!
We must lose the belly fat!
Otherwise, how will we wear those summer dresses!
Soon, the only male employee, Xiao Song, and the regular customers who often relaxed at the teahouse noticed that their shop owner and another female employee had suddenly entered a weight-loss phase.
When customer traffic was low, they would switch the TV to an aerobics program and jump in sync, earnestly following the fitness dance routines.
At first, occasional customers found it odd, but facing two high-value beauties working out, this looks-obsessed world easily forgave them.
The audience for their workouts wasn't just human; there was also a group of cats.
Sometimes, when Lin Lan and the others stretched or kicked their legs, they would suddenly feel something fluffy wrapping around their ankles, swinging along with their movements.
"Stop messing around! We're trying to lose weight here, careful we don't kick you." For these silly cats who treated their feet as new toys, standing up at any moment to pounce with their little paws open, Lin Lan's repeated scoldings were futile. She had to pull out the big guns: "Any cat that pounces again gets no dried fish at the end of the month."
The cats who had been accidentally kicked over a few times but were still eager to pounce again: "..."
Fine, no pouncing then, but the dried fish absolutely cannot be missing.
They stopped their crouching pounces and, quick to adapt, switched to side-lying or rolling-over poses, acting nonchalant as if they had never intended anything.
The tea customers in the main hall, who had been watching both the people exercising and the cats pouncing, were now laughing their heads off.
"The shop owner's cat-training skills are truly unmatched!"
"The power of the dried fish tactic is limitless!"
"It's exactly like when my cat wants to do something bad but gets caught red-handed—it can always switch to another pose in a second to play innocent!"
If Lin Lan were losing weight alone, she might not have persisted, but she had a young lady colleague who was very dedicated to body management. This kind of daily strenuous exercise became something she could endure.
Not only that, Wang Jiayi, who was quite skilled at brewing tea, even started researching fat-reducing teas. While sharing weight-loss tips with Shop Owner Lin, she actually managed to concoct a few delicious and oil-cutting fruit teas.
Originally intended just for themselves, these teas unexpectedly caught the interest of female customers who had been following their weight-loss journey. For a time, those fat-reducing fruit teas became the teahouse's most popular beverage variety for the spring season.
A week later, both had noticeably lost weight. Though the numbers weren't huge, the results were still encouraging.
"Keep it up!" The weight-loss duo high-fived each other for motivation. "Burn my calories!"
Lin Lan didn't just exercise at the shop during downtime; after closing up and going home, she would also jump around after dinner. Sometimes, singing along to the music even earned her an eye-roll from her mother.
"Stop chanting 'where are my collarbones' all day! How fat can you be? What's the big deal if you gain a few pounds during the New Year!"
"Mom, if you don't lose weight in spring, you'll regret it in summer. Please just let it be."
"Jumping around every day is so noisy!"
"Fine, I won't sing 'Calories' anymore, I'll switch to something else..."
While the Lin mother and daughter were discussing the weight-loss issue at home, the teahouse cats sleeping in the old house's living room today were blinking, watching them.
Over with the black cat family, the little black kittens also looked at their mother, Momo.
(Mama, mama, where are our collarbones?)
Momo, lying on the sofa, lowered her head to look at her children and let out a bored yawn.
(Silly children, whether we cats have collarbones or not, we don't need to lose weight.)
With spring's arrival, it's not just cat hair flying; dog hair from pets shedding their winter coats in spring and autumn is also everywhere.
In the upscale neighborhood across the street, streetlights gradually lit up as dusk fell.
Old Man Cheng and Old Mrs. Cheng had just finished dinner and were clearing the table.
It wasn't the weekend, so their son was still working overtime at the company, leaving the elderly couple to eat first.
Compared to the teahouse, which was kept very tidy for business, the Cheng family's small western-style villa was undergoing a severe test of dog hair.
Traces of dog hair could be found on the floor, the sofa, and even in the food bowls.
But the Cheng family was used to it.
From desperately cleaning in the first year of dog ownership, to gradually slacking off in the second year, and finally evolving into the current state of turning a blind eye—it was just a matter of a few years of subtle conditioning. Finding a hair in their food didn't even make them blink.
Old Man Cheng, using a rice scoop to empty the rice cooker, ended up with exactly one bowl of leftover rice. He thought for a moment and carried it towards the dog bowl in the corner.
Just then, the cell phone in Old Mrs. Cheng's pocket rang.
[Mom, I'm off work now. I won't waste money eating out; I'm coming home to eat right away.]
"Okay, okay, there's dinner at home. Come back quickly!" Hearing her son's call, Old Mrs. Cheng nodded repeatedly.
After hanging up, out of the corner of her eye, Old Mrs. Cheng saw her husband about to give the dog an extra meal with the leftovers as usual and quickly stopped him.
"Old man, don't dump it! Son said he's coming home to eat! There's still a bowl of braised pork and egg drop soup in the pot, perfect to finish up with this rice."
Old Man Cheng's steps toward the dog bowl halted immediately. "Ah, right!" He promptly turned around and placed the bowl of rice back on the kitchen prep counter.
Border Collie Xingxing, who had been wagging his tail excitedly waiting for the extra treat only to be hit with this bad news, could only watch as Grandpa carried the bowl away: "Woof! Aooowwwwooo..."
