The old Lin family from the urban village and the old Cheng family from the opposite residential compound became in-laws. The marriage was between the only daughter of the Lin family and the only son of the Cheng family. Furthermore, the young couple moved directly into an apartment in the Lin family's building after the wedding. While it was a normal marriage arrangement, because their new home was right next to the bride's parents, it was almost no different from living with the in-laws. Many people couldn't help but chuckle when they thought about this point.
However, the groom in question, Mr. Cheng, didn't mind at all. In fact, after discovering that his commute to work by car became more convenient, he even felt rather smug. Whenever someone brought it up, he would start boasting about how he could park on either side of the road when driving home, taking whichever spot he pleased. His utterly triumphant expression, as if he'd gotten the better end of the deal, instantly deflated anyone who had intended to tease him. Naturally, people stopped mentioning the fact that he was living at his wife's family home.
As time passed, everyone grew accustomed to it. Another year later, their first child was born.
"It's a boy," said the new mother, Lin Lan, lying there somewhat weakly, smacking her lips with a hint of regret. "I really wanted a daughter, you know."
Hearing this, Cheng Fengyang, who was serving her some fruit by her side, immediately put things down and took her hand. "It's alright, dear. If this one isn't a girl, we can try for the next one. The next one will definitely be a beautiful little girl."
"Well then, it's all up to you," Lin Lan wasn't particularly fixated on the baby's gender. Hearing her husband's comfort, she couldn't help but smile. "I've heard it's not the mother who decides if a child is a boy or a girl, it's the father. Whether we can have a daughter in the future depends entirely on whether you can deliver."
How on earth could he manage that? After hearing his wife's teasing, Groom Cheng coughed. "Ahem, honey, what do you think we should name our child? My parents and I prepared a whole list of names before, both formal names and nicknames. Why don't you pick one from there?"
Setting aside the commotion at home as everyone tried to choose what they thought was the best-sounding name for the first grandchild, the baby's name was finally settled when registering the household—Cheng Yushu, with the nickname Shushu.
Bringing Shushu home from the hospital, the first-time parents were actually quite flustered. This was when the advantage of having elders living right next door immediately became apparent.
When to feed, how to burp the baby, how to change a diaper... the completely inexperienced new parents learned quite a bit.
"You're always like this at the beginning. You'll get the hang of it slowly as you go along," not only did her own mother comfort her this way, but Lin Lan's gentle mother-in-law said the same. "If you really can't manage, you can also let us take care of our grandson."
Lin Lan, who had just become a mother, was unwilling. She insisted she could do it. After all, her shop was right downstairs. Once her postpartum confinement period was over, she could effortlessly run her tea house while taking care of the baby.
Worrying over Lin Lan wasn't just the parents and elders from both families, but also the large group of cats and one Border Collie she kept.
Especially Snowflake, who was a fully indoor cat. This big male cat seemed even more concerned about Shushu than Lin Lan, the biological mother.
During Lin Lan's postpartum confinement, while she was learning to care for the newborn, the big white cat kept circling around anxiously, meowing at Lin Lan from time to time.
(Lanlan, I hear the baby crying! He doesn't like the sleeping bag you put him in!)
(Lanlan, the baby's crying, why aren't you picking him up to soothe him! He needs licking to stop crying!)
(Lanlan, do you even know how to raise a cub!)
Annoyed by its constant meowing, Lin Lan: "..."
She glanced at the Border Collie, Star, who had been quietly watching her and the baby with its soulful puppy-dog eyes. When she looked over, the dog even wagged its tail ingratiatingly. Then she looked back at the big white cat Snowflake, who was so anxious its ears were almost flat against its head and was on the verge of getting aggressive with her over the baby. After a few seconds of silence, she scooped up the cat and plopped it down next to the infant, directly saying to the bewildered white cat, "If you're so good, you do it. From now on, whenever he cries, it's your job to soothe him!"
So, when Groom Cheng returned home from work with delicious food for his wife and pushed open the master bedroom door, he was greeted by the following scene.
The little baby on the bed was sleeping soundly on its back. Lying horizontally next to the baby's little head was a snow-white cat. The heads of the two little creatures were pressed together, both fast asleep.
"I've delegated the task. From now on, if the baby suddenly cries, let Snowflake handle it. Yeah, a dedicated cat nanny for soothing cries," his wife, wearing her postpartum clothes, explained the situation to him just like that.
The new father, Cheng Fengyang, was full of question marks. Although the cats Lanlan had trained were indeed very smart, and Snowflake was quite perceptive even when not working at the cat tea house interacting with customers, entrusting a cat with soothing a baby... wasn't that a bit unreliable?
Later, when he truly witnessed Shushu crying for no reason in the middle of the night, and Snowflake jumped into the crib, nuzzling and nudging until it actually coaxed their son back to sleep, the young father with dark circles under his eyes went through a series of facial expressions from relief to liberation, and then fell asleep peacefully.
Cat nanny, wonderful; night owl, even better.
With Snowflake, this new-style nanny, helping to shoulder the burden of the baby's inexplicable nighttime fussiness, the couple, who only needed to handle breastfeeding and diaper changes, really had it much easier. After all, those nights of staying up, holding the baby and soothing it for one or two hours straight, were truly torturous.
"Honey, I still don't quite understand. Snowflake is a male cat, why is he so good at taking care of a baby?" During the day at home, Cheng Fengyang sat on the living room sofa, watching the crib gently rocked by the Border Collie Star. Inside slept a baby and a cat. His expression was quite complicated.
The cats and dogs at home could all attend to an infant; he should be happy about that. Yet, he just felt something was a bit off.
Lin Lan glanced back at her husband. "It's probably innate. Like last year when I went with you to your great-grandfather's house, didn't you also see Great-grandma get the rooster drunk and stuff the chicks under it? Later, that rooster turned out to be even better at raising chicks than the hens."
Cheng Fengyang: "..." He had no rebuttal.
During Lin Lan's postpartum confinement, the whole family doted on her. Her husband reduced his workload significantly, often staying home to help care for the baby. Her parents and grandmother lived right next door, frequently coming over to check on things. Since Lin Lan couldn't cook at the time, all three daily meals were prepared by her mother and grandmother and brought over. Her mother-in-law also came every day, either bringing fresh ingredients or prepared nourishing soups. Her sister-in-law, Cheng Xingyu, and her family visited once a week. Each time they came, they also brought many tonics. Being of the same generation, her sister-in-law would share their generation's parenting experiences with her, which Lin Lan always listened to with great interest.
However, Cheng Xingyu couldn't help but sigh with a touch of resentment every time she visited. "If I had known keeping pets was so good, I should have gotten one too when I gave birth to Mengmeng."
As she spoke, her gaze remained fixed on the crib nearby. Inside, the little baby lay on his back with his eyes open, neither crying nor fussing. His tiny right hand was tightly clutching a snow-white tail. A large white cat lay docilely beside the infant, like an oversized plush toy or a faithful guardian protecting the child.
Just a few steps away from the crib, seven-year-old Li Mengmeng watched with curious and envious eyes.
"Furry and white... Auntie, Snowflake is so good, always guarding little brother," the little girl said longingly. "When will brother wake up? I want to hold Snowflake too."
Lin Lan couldn't help but laugh. "Brother will probably sleep for a long time yet. By the time he wakes up, you might have already gone home with your mom. But if you can't hold Snowflake, you can go downstairs to the tea house and hold the other cats. Sapphire misses you too." With staff on duty and her parents keeping an eye nearby, the tea house operated as usual even though she couldn't go out.
Hearing Lin Lan mention the beautiful Ragdoll cat, Li Mengmeng's eyes instantly lit up. Her attention shifted with lightning speed as she immediately looked at Cheng Xingyu. "Mom, I want to go to the tea house!" She was absolutely dying of envy seeing her little brother sleeping with a cat!
Cheng Xingyu, of course, couldn't withstand her daughter's persistent pleading. With a resigned smile, she bid farewell to her sister-in-law and took her daughter downstairs to fulfill her wish of holding cats.
Lin Lan watched them leave with a smile, then turned back to look at her own child, now being attended to by a full retinue of cats and dogs. She already had some inkling of what his future might hold.
Soon, the regulars at the Cat Tea House noticed a new addition in one corner of the shop: a rocking crib decorated in a cat-themed style. At first, they thought it was for the cats, as indeed, cats would occasionally jump in and out. It was only later, when Shopkeeper Lin lifted a small baby from it, that they realized the crib was actually meant for a human infant.
"Everyone else at home is busy, so I brought the baby to the shop to look after," the shopkeeper-mother explained with a smile, holding her child. "With all my little cats here, I'm really not worried about not being able to take good care of him."
And wasn't that the truth? He suddenly had over a dozen feline nannies, each a master at soothing people. Little baby Shushu was incredibly happy every day.
It's just that after the child came to the shop, the little furry bosses' attitude towards Shopkeeper Lin became somewhat less favorable.
"Lanlan, do you even know how to take care of a kitten?"
— This line, which sounded like a harsh mother-in-law scolding a young daughter-in-law, was a phrase the cats frequently hissed at her. Moreover, whenever the baby cried, they would hiss at her in displeasure. Shopkeeper Lin's emotional journey, from initial annoyance to eventually letting those cats volunteer themselves as nannies, took only about a day.
Fine. Since each of you thinks you're better at childcare than I am, then you take care of him.
Young Cheng Yushu grew up slowly in such an environment. Accompanied by over a dozen feline nannies, he learned to speak and walk, and intuitively grasped some cat behavior and language. At first glance, it seemed as if he had inherited his mother's talent for understanding cats.
When Lin Lan first noticed this, she was quite startled. Later, she realized it wasn't the case; her special ability was not hereditary. Her son understood some of the cats' needs simply because they had grown up with him since he was a baby.
However, the child was truly clever and bright. At just two and a half years old, he was lively, energetic, and quite the little chatterbox.
"Mom, look at Bubble! He went to steal goldfish from the fish tank again!" the little toddler loudly tattled, pointing at the grayish-white long-haired cat caught red-pawed. "Look, his paw is all wet again, he's going to get my bedsheet... all damp!"
His way of speaking, mixing a bit of local dialect into his Mandarin, combined with his childish, milky voice, was quite amusing.
Of course, even funnier was the silly cat over there, who tried to stealthily hide its wet paw but forgot it was standing up high and almost tumbled down.
"Bubble, playing dumb won't work," Lin Lan said, helplessly holding the cat she had just caught from falling and gripping its damp paw pad. "I've told you many times, you can't eat the goldfish in the tank. If you do this again, I'll hand you over to Mo Mo for a scolding."
The long-haired cat immediately let out an ingratiating meow, its voice sweet and pleasant, making one's heart soften involuntarily.
"That really is just like your birth mother. Niannian used to win over Wei Yan and a whole group of people at her company the same way." With a resigned sigh, Lin Lan put the cat down and let the matter drop.
With her own son already two years old, the tenants in the small building had naturally undergone quite a few changes during this time as well.
Miss Wei, who had adopted Niannian, saved up enough to buy a new apartment outright in the West District last year and moved away with Niannian. Her last long-time employee at the tea house, Tang Xiaoya, moved out even earlier. The year Lin Lan and Cheng Fengyang got married, Tang moved into a new apartment she was paying off with a mortgage and took the Maine Coon cat, Mercury, from the shop with her.
What surprised Lin Lan the most were Xu Xiangfei and Qian Xuan, who, like Wei Yan, used to live on the fourth floor. One owned a Husky, the other a British Shorthair. Given that the dog was always provoking the cat and getting beaten up for it, their encounters should have been rather unpleasant. Unexpectedly, they ended up becoming a couple and are getting married this year. The invitation arrived at the old Lin household just a couple of days ago.
Among the tenants, the one who changed the most was probably the young Missy, Wang Jiaqi.
Back then, she had only talked about opening a cat shelter and asked Lin Lan to help socialize the cats. Neither the Missy nor Lin Lan could have imagined that a public welfare shelter would eventually evolve into what it is today.
"Wow—so many cats!" Young Cheng Yushu was utterly astonished on his first visit to the shelter. "Dad, Mom, is this a cat zoo?"
If not for the clear line of large characters above the entrance reading "West District Stray Cat Shelter," no one entering this place would think it was a stray cat shelter.
The interior was decorated in bright, warm tones with an adorable, cat-inspired architectural style. It was fitted with whimsical cat walkways and cat trees of various colors and shapes. Clean, well-groomed cats were everywhere. Walking inside felt like being surrounded by a sea of cats. It resembled an alternative cat exhibition hall more than a shelter.
Every stray cat here was well cared for and clean. The aloof ones would hide on the high perches, while the affectionate ones were willing to be held. For cat lovers, this place was nothing short of paradise.
"At first, I was just following my own whims, thinking that since this would be my workplace for a long time, I should make it pretty and cute according to my own taste. For that I have to thank your husband—Young Cheng's design is truly excellent and exactly to my liking," said Wang Jiayi, the director of the shelter, with a somewhat helpless expression as she glanced at Cheng Fengyang beside Lin Lan. "But I really never expected this place to become a popular online check-in spot in the West District."
With so many people visiting, it would be a shame not to organize some activities, like letting them spend a little money on cat food or cans to give the cats some extra treats. It would be a waste of the foot traffic otherwise.
Although the shelter's main operation still relies heavily on Lanlan's help in training cats, it doesn't hurt to earn a little extra money from visitors to help fill the financial hole of caring for such a large feline family.
"I still think you're the most amazing, Lanlan. You actually thought of training an older cat to be the lead cat and then using it to train the other rescued strays. It's made management so much easier. The strays who submit to the lead cat have never scratched or bitten anyone. Many people who visit the shelter start considering adoption!" Missy was very happy saying this, but she soon composed her expression. "However, I don't let people adopt my cats easily. The strict conditions have discouraged quite a few who were just acting on a whim."
This was her original intention anyway.
Having heard news about adopters abandoning cats afterward, or even deliberately adopting them for abuse, and knowing how hard life is for strays, Missy would rather spend her own money to keep them than let just anyone take them. The rules are there; if you want a cat, you have to accept them.
Seeing how mature and capable Missy had become, Lin Lan felt a surge of emotion inwardly, but her face remained smiling. "It's getting late. We'll continue taking the little one around to see the cats and won't disturb your busy work anymore."
After bidding farewell to Wang Jiayi, the family of three continued their tour inside. For little Shushu, it was the first time he'd seen so many cats gathered indoors outside of the teahouse. Unlike the feral cat colonies on the streets that were afraid of people or even scratched, these were completely different, and he was thrilled beyond measure. He played from morning until 2 p.m., finally exhausting himself and falling asleep in his father's arms, which naturally marked the end of their outing.
By the time the little guy woke up, it was already dinner time.
Placed in his high chair, the hungry Shushu naturally picked up his spoon and started eating, but he kept glancing at his mom and dad beside him between bites.
"Missy praised your design today, and you've been pretty full of yourself, floating on air for quite a while now. Isn't it about time to come down?"
"Probably not. Ever since the shelter became a viral hotspot, I, the designer, have genuinely become famous. The company has received several big orders, specifically requesting me. Honey, I think I'll be floating even higher in the future!"
"Alright then, keep floating," Lin Lan said with an amused laugh, reaching out to put a piece of his favorite sweet and sour fish on his plate. "Just don't float so high that you crash and burn."
"How could I? I still plan to keep earning money to support the family!" Cheng Fengyang happily ate the food his wife served. "Lanlan, your cooking skills seem to have improved again. The food keeps getting better and better!"
Lin Lan loved hearing that, and her smile grew wider. "Then eat more," she said, also putting a piece of stewed meat into her son's bowl.
It was a fresh bamboo shoot and pork soup simmered over low heat for two hours, the star dish of tonight's dinner. Having spent most of the day outside with his wife and son, Cheng Fengyang was already hungry. After finishing the fish, he quickly cleared the rice in his bowl and then picked up the ladle to serve himself some soup.
Little Shushu, who was focused on chewing his meat, saw his father's action and asked curiously, "Is Daddy going to drink soup?" He completely didn't understand what was so great about soup.
"Yes," Cheng Fengyang replied casually. "Baby should drink more soup too."
The child was perfect in every way except for his dislike of soups and broths. Every time Cheng Fengyang watched him eat a whole bowl of dry rice, he felt it must be hard to swallow, but his son seemed completely unfazed.
Sure enough, upon hearing this advice, little Cheng Yushu immediately showed a conflicted expression.
"No," the little boy sitting there said seriously, gripping his spoon. "Daddy drink soup. Baby eat meat."
Cheng Fengyang, who was about to take a sip of soup, almost choked. Across from him, Lin Lan couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Married life was plain but gentle. Lin Lan was very satisfied with her current days. With this father-son pair and those most adorable cats by her side, she believed every day would continue to be full of interest.
