After that, Cheng Fengyang honestly saw her home, grinning foolishly the whole way, only gradually toning it down after earning a couple of disdainful glances from her.
But with him continuously distracting her like this, Lin Lan truly wasn't feeling sad anymore at all. Unconsciously, she had become completely unguarded with this person and was gradually opening her heart to him.
"We're here." Stopping at the stairway entrance of the small building, Lin Lan turned to look at him, her gaze gentle. "Fengyang, thank you for today. You really went to a lot of trouble for me this afternoon, and I'm very happy."
If he didn't truly like her, who would bother paying such close attention, worrying about her feelings? Lin Lan was never someone who didn't appreciate kindness. She genuinely received Cheng Fengyang's heartfelt intentions and felt sincerely happy about them. Having a shoulder to lean on during times of vulnerability and sadness was really quite nice.
This wasn't the first time Cheng Fengyang had received thanks from Lin Lan, but it was the first time he heard her talk about how she felt after being helped. The young man was overwhelmed and even a bit flustered. "I... I'm really glad you didn't find me meddlesome."
Every time she encountered trouble, just when he thought he might have a chance to shine, the object of his affection would use her actions to show him she could handle everything by herself. Being praised this time made him incredibly happy. Did this mean Lanlan was finally willing to start accepting him, to rely on him a little?
His reaction amused Lin Lan, who giggled for a moment before pressing her lips together to gradually regain her composure.
"Cheng Fengyang." Under the starlight of the summer night, she called his full name. In Cheng Fengyang's eyes, Lin Lan's eyes seemed to be sparkling at this moment. "I take back what I said to you last winter. You're a good person, truly a good person. I think I should give myself a chance."
The young man was stunned for a moment, suddenly remembering last winter. They had also gone for barbecue skewers together, but that time she had treated him, and because of his eye injury, she had held his hand and escorted him home. During that time, she had expressed her disinterest in dating. This summer, the situation was completely reversed. He was seeing her to her doorstep, and then she said she was taking back those words.
"You, you mean...!" Cheng Fengyang couldn't help but get excited, but before he could finish his question to confirm, she forcefully interrupted him.
"I didn't say anything!" The person who directly denied it smiled, her eyes curving like crescents. "I'm going home. You should head back soon too!" With that, she turned and ran lightly up the stairs.
Cheng Fengyang watched as Lin Lan disappeared around the stairwell corner, listening to the light footsteps fading into the distance. The somewhat dazed, foolish expression on his face gradually transformed into one of excited joy, and he couldn't help but make a fist-pumping "Yes!" motion.
Six months of relentless effort, and he had finally seen the dawn!
Meanwhile, Shao Xiuye, who had returned in a sorry state, was not ready to let things go. After several hours on the road back to his rented room, he sat on the bed, his face gloomy as he gripped his phone.
The phone screen showed over a dozen failed call records. Those were calls to Miss Jiang's number, which he had gone to great lengths to obtain from someone else. At first, the calls connected, but as soon as the other party heard his voice, they hung up without a second thought. Shao Xiuye didn't even get a chance to tell her about Lin Lan tricking him. Later, the other party went even further, directly blocking his number, making it clear she wanted nothing to do with him.
The attitude of that Jiang woman had already dashed his plan of getting her to deal with Lin Lan—this was what he had originally planned from the start. His trip during the day was merely to confirm things in person. He just hadn't expected to first be exposed and ridiculed by Lin Lan, and then to find that Jiang woman so utterly cold-hearted, leaving him not even a sliver of opportunity.
Shao Xiuye had originally planned to incite that woman to take revenge on Lin Lan, while he followed behind to collect evidence, using that as leverage to blackmail the Jiang woman later. That entire scheme had completely fallen through, which infuriated him.
Unable to sit still, he got up and paced around the small empty space in his room. His mind was filled with the cold, heartless faces of those two women when they had made a fool of him, finally solidifying into Lin Lan's icy, condescending posture from the daytime. Shao Xiuye's face grew increasingly twisted.
He picked up his phone and dialed another number.
Unlike the previous number that would never connect again, this one was answered quickly. Shao Xiuye put the phone to his ear and, when a "Hello?" came from the other side, spoke in a low voice: "Is this Huang Lao-san? I'm the netizen who chatted with you online the night before last. I've discovered a batch of pedigree cats with exceptionally good quality. Among them are leopard cats worth over a hundred thousand, as well as Abyssinians and Maine Coons worth fifty or sixty thousand... Yes, all in the same cat cafe. The security conditions are quite basic... I don't want a cut, I'm just providing the information. Interested in pulling off a job?"
And so, a night passed, unnoticed.
The summer in West City grew progressively hotter, and the teahouse had already turned on the air conditioning for survival.
"I'm now considering whether to tough it out until autumn before leaving," said Song Xinmin, who had saved up a decent salary and received a substantial bonus, looking at the heat-hazed air shimmering outside with visible hesitation.
Because the teahouse had suddenly become an internet-famous spot, the photographer's original plan to resign after getting his bonus had been repeatedly delayed. By the time he finally had a free moment to think about leaving again, it was almost the height of summer.
Talking about going out to continue traveling and wandering, doing photography and gathering inspiration under the scorching sun at this time... was a bit much to ask.
"Then why not stick around until autumn before leaving?" The young lady behind the water bar counter, Wang Jiayi, suggested with a giggle, resting her chin in her hand as she looked at him. "The magazine that hosted the competition you entered before—my family has a stake in it too. If you want to apply to be an exclusive photographer for that magazine, I can get someone to give you an internal referral."
It was a top-tier photography magazine in the country. The hiring bar for photographers there was, as you can imagine, sky-high. For a relatively young and new photographer like Song Xinmin, this was like a huge pie falling from the sky.
Hearing this, the person in question couldn't help but smile. "Thank you for your kindness, young lady. But it would be great if this opportunity could be kept on hold. I still want to try and make my own way first. Maybe they'll invite me on their own without needing a backdoor... Of course, if my luck really runs out later, I might truly need your help and patronage."
Wang Jiayi blinked. "Huh? I thought you'd either happily agree or directly refuse."
"How could that be?" Song Xinmin said, half-seriously. "Although I'm quite confident in my own talent and ability, China is, after all, a society built on connections. There are far too many capable people without background who never get their chance. I'm not stupid enough to directly refuse. But if I directly agreed and became someone who got in through the backdoor, I'd be even more dissatisfied. My journey of cultivation isn't over yet."
"So that's how it is... Young people these days have too many schemes."
"You flatter me. It's necessary when you're out in society."
The two employees bantered across the water bar counter. Not far away, Shop Manager Lin was using a cat teaser wand to train the lively new kitten, Paopao.
Whether Paopao would grow long hair would only be known when it got a bit older, but its pale gray and white fur was quite beautiful nonetheless.
The pheasant feather on the teaser wand flicked to the left, and the kitten pounced over with its little paws.
"Meow!" (Mine!)
Flicked to the right, the kitten scrambled with all four paws, skidding as it turned around to pounce again.
"Meow!" (Give it to me!)
As Bubble kept leaping and pouncing, suddenly a slightly larger Xiuqiu cat jumped out from behind. The two kittens, both less than half a year old, chased the cat teaser together, having a great time running east and west.
In stark contrast to the enthusiasm of these two cats, Lin Lan, expressionlessly waving the wand, resembled an emotionless cat-teasing machine. Paired with the several larger cats lazily yawning around her, the scene was quite a vivid contrast.
Song Xinmin couldn't help but snap a photo of this scene. The contrast between the new kittens and the old-timer cats in the teahouse was too strong; the photographer said he couldn't control his hands.
"Tired." Distracted by the sound of his photo, Shopkeeper Lin handed the cat teaser to Comrade Song. "This task is yours now. All I want to do is learn from those cats and spend my days staring blankly out the floor-to-ceiling window."
"...Are you really that tired, Boss?" Song Xinmin took the teaser, speechless. "Even though the customers are getting fewer because the weather is getting hotter, you shouldn't be this bored, right? Besides, the main revenue for the shop now comes from the cat training jobs introduced by that Cheng guy."
"No, I'm just thinking about something." Lin Lan sat down in a new spot and said casually.
"What is it? Is there anything else in the shop for you to worry about?" Xiao Song asked instinctively. In the teahouse now, all the cats bowed to her authority. There wasn't a single troublemaker among the new or old cats. Even the previously most troublesome leopard cat, Gray, had become very well-behaved. Yesterday, he saw it flip over and let people pet it all over just for a grilled fish snack from Old Zhou's family, with none of the unyielding fierceness it had when first brought here.
"It's not about the cats." Lin Lan waved her hand but didn't specify why.
It had been a week since Shao Xiuye left her place, but for some reason, Lin Lan kept feeling vaguely uneasy. Yet, upon careful thought, she couldn't pinpoint what was wrong. The teahouse was still running as usual, no troublemakers had appeared, the kittens were all very well-behaved with no fights, and even the atmosphere when she was with Cheng Fengyang was becoming clearer and more positive... ahem, let's not mention that for now. The main point is that occasional feeling of unease, that something wasn't quite right. But precisely because it was hard to articulate, Lin Lan couldn't explain it to anyone and could only be vague.
"Speaking of staring out the window, Lanlan, I have a question!" Miss Wang from behind the water bar suddenly piped up. "I've noticed all the cats in the shop like to look outside the window. Some can squat there motionless for hours, just staring. Xiuqiu and Silver are like that. Do they actually want to go out?"
"If you say Xiuqiu might want to go out, there might be some basis. But saying Silver wants to go out is impossible." Lin Lan turned to look at her, pointing at the cats not far away. It was summer now, and these little cats who loved snuggling with people in winter were keeping their distance. Unless they were particularly clingy, they weren't keen on lying in people's laps. "If you pick up Silver now and throw it outside, it would run back by itself."
"Then why is that? If they don't like going out, why do they always stare outside the window, and so motionlessly? What's so interesting out there?" Wang Jiayi looked like a curious child.
"You're right. For cats, the world outside the window is very interesting, just like people watching TV." Lin Lan recalled the answer she once got from her own cat, Xuehua, and replied directly to Wang Jiayi. "For cats, in a safe environment with ample food and no worries about danger, watching birds and insects outside through a window is exactly like watching TV. Don't you sit motionless on the sofa binge-watching dramas for hours, unwilling to get up?"
This time, not only Wang Jiayi but also Song Xinmin was left with their mouths agape. So that's how it was. They had always thought the cats wanted to go out, hence the longing stares outside.
"Of course, it's not that no cat thinks that way." Shopkeeper Lin added appropriately. "Take my Xuehua, for example. She's semi-outdoor. Sometimes she gets bored at home and really does want to go out. Generally, cats who have always been indoor-only don't have this idea, unless a kitten gets neurotic again and has a sudden brainwave to go out. Like that one over there right now."
As she finished speaking, she pointed towards the cow-patterned cat scratching at the glass door panel at the back door. The two followed her pointing finger and saw the black-and-white cat standing upright on its hind legs, its front paws scratching up and down against the glass incessantly. It was indeed the cow cat, Diandian.
"Meow!" The kitten called out while scratching. (Let me out! I want to play in the yard!)
"Does Diandian want to go out?" Its behavioral intent was so obvious anyone could see it. Wang Jiayi frowned. "It's so hot outside right now. I just checked the weather forecast on my phone; the temperature outside in West City is 36°C. There's no air conditioning in the yard. How can it go out there?"
"It might really be having a neurotic episode." Song Xinmin watched the black-and-white cat tirelessly wiping the glass like a perpetual motion machine, then looked at the other normal cats quietly enjoying the air conditioning, feeling somewhat helpless. "Aren't cow cats always said to be the Huskies of the cat world? It's not strange for Diandian to have these occasional episodes."
"Meow! Meow—!" (Let me out! Let me out! I'm going stir-crazy, I want freedom!)
Diandian the kitten's slogans were getting more and more outrageous. Shopkeeper Lin officially confirmed the cow cat was in the midst of an episode and waved her hand helplessly. "Xiao Song, open the door. If it wants to go out, let it. Cats are quite heat-tolerant. Let it mess around for a bit."
"Is that okay?" Despite voicing this hesitation, Song Xinmin still went to open the door for the cat as instructed.
As soon as the glass door cracked open a slit, the cow cat squeezed through like liquid into the narrow courtyard, particularly excited to enjoy the yard space all to itself. Describing it as bouncing up and down would be an understatement.
"Truly worthy of being called a Husky. It's really full of energy." Wang Jiayi watched, stunned, and couldn't help but think of the dog-owning resident on the fourth floor. Sometimes she would see that person being pulled along on a skateboard by their dog. Now this cat with the same coloring behaved almost exactly like that dog.
The Husky-cat... ahem, the cow cat, was darting and jumping over there. The group of cats that had been staring at the street direction now all switched to looking towards the back door. Everyone silently changed the channel to watch the new TV program.
The older cats were very calm. Only the two inexperienced kittens tilted their heads, their little bodies following Diandian's shadow back and forth. They placed their little paws on Lin Lan's leg and meowed at her.
(Lanlan, what is Diandian doing? It looks like fun!)
Lin Lan lifted one kitten onto each knee. Just as she was about to speak, Diandian, tired from its frantic running, reappeared in front of the glass door. It stood upright on its hind legs again and started scratching at the door panel, emitting urgent cries.
"Meow! Meow!" (Let me in! Let me in! I don't want freedom anymore! It's boiling hot outside, my paw pads are getting cooked on the floor!)
"Now you see," Manager Lin seized the moment to lecture the kitten. "Still think this is fun?"
