They had only just met, and the conversation had turned to the other party's illness due to the little girl's impulsive behavior.
How did they end up talking about wanting the cat from her tea house?
Shopkeeper Lin instinctively hugged the orange cat closer to her chest. Giving the cat away was out of the question. Even regular tea customers who wanted a cat from her tea house had to go through a vetting process, let alone someone as special as this one.
Given this young lady's mental state—crying and making a fuss until she got her way—Lin Lan would absolutely never hand Gentleman over to this family.
Seeing the shopkeeper's guarded, retreating motion to protect the cat, Ms. Xiao, who had blurted out the request to buy the cat in a moment of impulsiveness, suddenly sobered up. She knew what the other person was worried about. Although she also felt awkward, for her daughter's sake, she braced herself and continued, "I'm sorry, shopkeeper. My request is a bit abrupt, but my sincerity is absolutely genuine. I can promise I'll take good care of this kitten. You see..."
"Customer, perhaps due to the earlier incident, you didn't get a chance to look around my shop properly," Lin Lan interrupted with a smile. "The cats in my tea house are indeed allowed to be taken home, but the rules are clearly posted over there. To ensure the cats have a stable life afterwards, the conditions are quite detailed. Perhaps you should take a look first."
The child's condition was certainly distressing, but her temper tantrums were also nerve-wracking. Lin Lan wouldn't so casually push Gentleman into what might be a pit of fire in an unfamiliar place.
Guided by a staff member, Ms. Xiao saw the clearly posted adoption rules in the shop. Her initial idea of achieving her goal by spending more money instantly fell through, and an uncontrollable look of disappointment appeared on her face.
"We are very sorry about Yao Yao's situation, but Gentleman is also a valued member of my tea house. I would never let him be taken away lightly," the shopkeeper replied, neither submissive nor overbearing, holding the cat. She looked down at Yao Yao. "Moreover, given your daughter's current state, I seriously doubt your family can meet the requirement of 'taking good care' of him."
The woman's expression stiffened again. Being bluntly refused and having the reason pointed out directly did not make her look any better.
But no matter how unpleasant her expression, Lin Lan felt no urge to apologize. She saw this mother's mindset very clearly: she purely wanted to spend a fortune to buy a therapeutic tool for her daughter, with no real regard for the cat itself. If it proved useful, she might take meticulous care of it, providing food and drink; but if it didn't help the condition, dashing the mother's hopes into disappointment, who knew what Gentleman might face afterwards.
Yet Ms. Xiao truly didn't want to give up and continued to fight for the right to buy him.
"Shopkeeper, can't you make an exception? I promise I'll buy the best cat food and supplies for this cat. If it can save my daughter, our whole family..."
These groundless "promises," uttered one after another, were too much for Wang Jiayi, who had been listening nearby. She couldn't help but interrupt: "Customer, first of all, can you promise that Yao Yao won't suddenly hurt Gentleman?"
Ms. Xiao was immediately stumped. Thinking of her daughter's violent temper tantrums where she even hurt herself, her lips moved wordlessly, unable to utter any guarantee.
Her reaction made the other two staff members realize this mother's true mindset as well. While such thinking for her daughter's sake couldn't be called wrong, it was also perfectly reasonable for the tea house to consider the cat's welfare.
The atmosphere between the two sides in the shop instantly cooled down.
Ms. Xiao held her daughter, head bowed, her face full of dejection. Those opposite her also fell into silence.
It was in this atmosphere that a meow broke the quiet—it was the orange cat in Lin Lan's arms.
(Lan Lan, I think... I've seen this little two-legged creature somewhere before.)
Gentleman lay in the crook of Lin Lan's arm, tilting his little head and looking down at the little girl opposite.
Because Ms. Xiao had gone to look at the rules posted on the wall, everyone was now standing away from the table. Yao Yao was being held by the shoulders, leaning against her mother. Hearing the meow, she suddenly jerked her head up, her eyes sparkling with delight. She raised both arms, looking up and reaching towards the cat in Lin Lan's arms: "Meow! Meow meow! Yellow Meow! Hug hug!"
Ms. Xiao instinctively pressed down on her daughter to prevent her from causing trouble, while Lin Lan reflexively stepped back, avoiding the little girl's pursuit.
The orange cat also called out to her: "Meow—" (That's the pose! I remember now! This little two-legged creature fell into a really deep hole so stupidly, and being silly herself, she wanted me to jump in too! I'm not as dumb as her!)
After hearing this, Shopkeeper Lin was dumbfounded: "...!?"
Holy crap! So it wasn't two cats that looked alike, but the very cat involved in the incident!
Thinking back carefully, this was indeed very possible, as Gentleman had been a stray cat just a year ago.
The adults thought the child had mistaken it for a lookalike, but in reality, the child had directly recognized the cat that saved her.
Gentleman, of course, had no idea about the human thoughts. It continued to tilt its head, examining the little two-legged creature it had saved a year ago: "Meow—" (Wasn't smart to begin with, now she looks even sillier.)
Shopkeeper Lin silently raised her hand, pressed the kitten's head, and gave it a rub. You little cat, stop looking down on the child.
"Meow! Yellow Meow, hug hug!" Unable to move freely due to her mother's restraint, Yao Yao persistently held her arms high towards the cat, standing on her tiptoes with all her might, recreating the scene after she had fallen into the abandoned well.
As a mother, seeing her child like this, how could Ms. Xiao bear it? Just as she was about to muster her courage and plead again, Shopkeeper Lin opposite suddenly took a few steps forward, approaching them.
"Yao Yao, his name isn't Yellow Meow, it's Gentleman." Lin Lan crouched down slightly, showing the cat in her arms to the child from a distance just out of her reach. "Do you want to hug him? If you do, you have to say it."
"Yes!" The little girl, who had never actively answered anyone's questions before, replied clearly and crisply. "I want to hug him!"
This scene left Ms. Xiao utterly stunned, almost shocked with joy: "Yao Yao, you're responding to people?"
The girl paid no attention to her mother, her eyes still fixed eagerly on the orange cat opposite.
Lin Lan carefully observed the girl's eyes. At this moment, the child's gaze was lively, a kind of animation sparked by focusing on what she cared about most.
"Yao Yao, you can hug the cat, but you have to make a promise: you absolutely must not hurt Gentleman." Lin Lan continued to try communicating with her. "If you can agree, you have to say it out loud too."
"I won't hurt Yellow Meow!" the little girl promised loudly, her words clear and coherent. "Yellow Meow stayed with me the whole time! I like Yellow Meow the most!"
"Yao Yao...!" Ms. Xiao covered her mouth, tears of joy and surprise streaming down uncontrollably.
A whole year. It had been a full year since she had seen her daughter communicate with someone normally like this. The more she thought about it, the more fervently she looked at the cat in the shopkeeper's arms. If robbery weren't illegal, this mother might have really taken action on the spot.
At this moment, Lin Lan wasn't paying attention to the mother's reaction. Her full attention was on Yao Yao and Gentleman.
After receiving the orange cat's agreement to play with the little girl, Shopkeeper Lin finally gave her true consent: "Then it's settled. I'll let you hold Gentleman. I'd be a liar and a puppy if I went back on my word."
As she said this, she carefully handed the cat over.
At this moment, both Mrs. Xiao and Wang Jiayi wore expressions of extreme caution and readiness, prepared to intervene at the first sign of trouble.
A seven-year-old child holding a cat isn't too difficult, especially since Shopkeeper Lin had always kept a close eye on the teahouse cats' weight, ensuring the most gluttonous orange cat never had a chance to get fat. So, Yaoyao easily gathered Gentleman into her arms.
When she finally held the cat securely as instructed, the look of pure satisfaction and safety that flashed across the little girl's adorable face stunned all the adults present.
"Meow meow, Yellow Meow..." Yaoyao gently nuzzled her face against the cat's body. The rashness and willfulness she had shown earlier were completely gone, replaced by a gentle, completely non-aggressive demeanor.
Or rather, a sense of cherishing.
At this moment, Lin Lan finally became completely certain of one thing.
On the day Gentleman helped the humans save Yaoyao years ago, he had already become an extremely important presence in the little girl's heart. He was the key that activated the child's emotional region, the crucial link reconnecting the emotions she had lost for a year.
Before the adults found and rescued her, it was an orange cat sitting at the mouth of an abandoned well that kept her company until dark.
After holding Gentleman, Yaoyao became completely quiet—a gentle quietness, not the deathly stillness from before, which moved her mother to tears several times.
"It's been a year, actually over a year... I've dreamed of this day..."
While Yaoyao couldn't be said to have full-blown autism, as that condition is generally present from birth, the symptoms she exhibited after the trauma were very similar. Families with autistic children often live a life devoid of laughter, with confusion and despair as the perennial theme.
Now, seeing her child show such a significant transformation due to the stimulus from a cat, how could a mother not cry? She even wanted to pour out all the fear and sorrow pent up for so long.
Unfortunately, the unsentimental Shopkeeper Lin didn't give her the chance. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Xiao, but I'm sticking to my original decision. Gentleman won't be going home with you today." Before the woman across from her could get agitated, she added, "However, you two can come to the teahouse every day. The fact that Yaoyao showed no signs of harming Gentleman has really changed my view of her. I promise that whenever you come, I'll have Gentleman keep Yaoyao company. As for whether you can take the cat home eventually?... Mrs. Xiao, you understand."
Pointing to the cat adoption guidelines in the teahouse, Lin Lan smiled at her.
Mrs. Xiao's lips moved slightly. She turned to look at her daughter. The orange cat was lying on Yaoyao's lap, and the little girl was lowering her head, stroking its fur over and over. The cat's tail swayed leisurely back and forth. The afternoon sunlight spilled over the girl and the cat, softening the woman's expression.
"Then let's do as the owner says," she finally said.
Having endured a year of painful torment, with the hope of healing right before her eyes, what couldn't she compromise for her daughter's sake?
And so, following the precedent of Miss Wang before she started working there, the teahouse welcomed its second pair of all-day regulars—clients who arrived as soon as the doors opened in the morning and only left at closing time in the afternoon.
However, this pair's situation was more special. Others came for leisure; they came for treatment.
With Gentleman's companionship, Yaoyao never again displayed the excited, agitated state from their first encounter. The still mostly silent little girl appeared quiet and lovely, causing no concern about disturbing other customers.
"I'm now sure this child doesn't have true autism," Song Xinmin muttered. "This should be considered stress-induced self-isolation. Once the right treatment is found, recovery can be quite rapid."
After spending less than a week in the teahouse, Yaoyao, who initially would only respond to people while holding the cat, now occasionally replied to others even without Gentleman in her arms.
With such a beginning, everything afterwards progressed smoothly. Yaoyao was visibly improving day by day, gradually becoming a normal child.
Of course, during the feline therapy, Shopkeeper Lin didn't neglect to get Gentleman's own opinion of Yaoyao and her mother.
"Gentleman, Yaoyao seems to really like you," Lin Lan asked the orange cat one day after closing, holding him in her arms. "If they asked to take you home, would you want to go?"
Hearing this question, Gentleman wagged his tail happily: "Meow." (Yes! I can feel it, Yaoyao likes me the most!)
"I understand." Shopkeeper Lin nodded upon hearing this. Animals' senses are much sharper than humans'. After so many days of close contact, Gentleman could naturally discern Yaoyao's feelings. Having received this firsthand confirmation, Lin Lan began preparing for the necessary follow-up steps.
This was perhaps truly fate. An unintentional act by a stray cat had forged a bond between it and a human.
Later, Mrs. Xiao noticed that the teahouse's Shopkeeper Lin always used the pretext of treating Yaoyao to teach her daughter how to care for a cat—the orange cat's food preferences, its favorite grooming techniques, the petting motions it loved most, where it liked to sleep... All this miscellaneous knowledge was stuffed into her daughter's head, leaving the mother both amused and exasperated.
Rather than teaching the daughter, wasn't she actually telling all this to the adult?
Mrs. Xiao complained outwardly but secretly rejoiced. This meant the shop owner was relenting, allowing them to take the cat home eventually.
She guessed right about that part, but missed the real change in her daughter.
"Mommy, for you to drink." One day in the teahouse, the seven-year-old girl brought a cup of milk tea to her mother, looking up at her. Although her face still didn't show much expression, one could see she was looking intently at her birth mother. "Taking care of Gentleman is tiring, but I like it. Shopkeeper Sister said, Mommy taking care of me is even more tiring. For you to drink."
Seeing her mother frozen, she pushed the cup forward a little more.
Mrs. Xiao, who had never imagined this day, numbly took the milk tea and instinctively glanced towards the water bar counter. The shop owner was smiling at her. Then she turned back to her daughter. Understanding what had happened, she could no longer hold back, pulling the child tightly into her embrace and weeping uncontrollably.
Three days later, Gentleman became the first cat from the teahouse to be adopted.
That day, all three members of the Xiao family came. They were both grateful and respectful towards Lin Lan for her immense help.
During their time at the teahouse, the Xiao family had long recognized the owner's remarkable skill in training cats. Every cat here was extremely perceptive and very well-behaved. Through a cat, they had even gradually healed their Yaoyao. Even if it was just a fortunate coincidence, it didn't diminish their admiration for it.
"Gentleman is in your care now, all three of you. Yaoyao, you must treat him well. If you don't, I'll come to your house and take him back."
"I would never, shopkeeper sister! I love Gentleman the most; he's the best little cat in the whole world!"
After completing a series of meticulous procedures, the little girl Yaoyao, carrying the cat carrier with Gentleman inside, waved goodbye to the people in the tea house with a smile. Then, holding her parents' hands, she skipped away.
The next day, Lin Lan received a video sent by Ms. Xiao. Their family had a full array of supplies and cat food ready for Gentleman. The Xiao family even had a small yard, filled with what were said to be Yaoyao's favorite daisies.
A week later, new videos arrived. One showed Gentleman, now fully settled into his new home, chasing and playing with Yaoyao in the yard. And the other...
"Lanlan, what are you looking at again? Did the Xiao family send another video?" Wang Jiayi asked curiously, leaning over.
"This one," Lin Lan said, turning the screen to show her.
In the video, Yaoyao was lying on the windowsill at her desk, coloring with crayons. Then an orange cat jumped in from the yard outside. It had a pale pink flower in its mouth, which it placed in front of her.
At the end of the scene, the little girl picked up the daisy and joyfully hugged the cat in her arms.
