Chapter 11

The owner had equipped the shop with a Luyuan electric scooter. Its battery life was strong, stronger than ordinary little electric scooters. Delivery riders could often be seen riding this kind of scooter through the streets and crowds.

It was more than enough for it to steadily carry one person for ten kilometers.

Hearing Xie Zhitang’s words, Xin Geling realized that was not what she had meant. She had only been worried Xie Zhitang would not be used to sitting on it.

But since Xie Zhitang did not mind, there was nothing more for her to say.

“All right.”

Xie Zhitang put the tiny kitten back into the display cabinet, picked up her bag, and followed Xin Geling out.

The electric scooter was parked beside the entrance of Maochong Grooming. Xin Geling inserted the key and motioned for her to get on.

Fortunately, Xie Zhitang was dressed more casually today: a French-style blouse paired with tight [bailiantales.com]flared jeans, and low-heeled Mary Janes on her feet, revealing her slender, bony ankles.

When she sat on the back seat, Xie Zhitang looked at the tall, thin back before her. Simple loose trousers, a white T-shirt inside, and an even looser short-sleeved black shirt layered over it.

Sister had the habit of leaving her shirt unbuttoned. When working, she often wore shirts layered over all kinds of T-shirts. On someone shorter, this kind of outfit would only make them look shorter, but Sister was even taller than her, and on top of that, she was thin. She was like a walking clothes rack.

Silently stealing other people’s gazes.

Xie Zhitang recalled the prison visits over the years. Even when she saw Sister wearing an ordinary, unremarkable prison uniform, there had still been an indescribable attraction about her.

That calamity when she was eighteen—Sister had used her own strength to lift Xie Zhitang up and make her what she was, yet the outcome for Sister had been seven years in prison.

The energy within Sister was vast as mountains and seas, still making Xie Zhitang’s heart tremble seven years later.

She could not help wanting to approach her, to hold her close.

And she wanted even less to let her go, to give her to someone else.

Xie Zhitang’s slender, fair hands clasped together through the shirt and white T-shirt, wrapping around Xin Geling’s waist. “I’m seated properly, Sister.”

“Mm.”

Xin Geling glanced down at the hands around her waist, feeling somewhat complicated. She could actually have held on to the seat. But picking up the cat was more important, so Xin Geling simply let her be. She twisted the throttle, and the electric scooter slowly left Maochong Grooming and entered the street.

The evening breeze blew against their faces. Since this was the rush hour after work, the number of people near the subway entrance and various intersections gradually increased. Xin Geling did not drive very fast, weaving steadily through the noisy crowd.

Xie Zhitang looked at the bustling street, people coming and going, the little shops and stalls along the roadside calling out all kinds of sales pitches, mixed with modern pop music. Slowly, the plain, boiled-water-like warmth of city life unfolded.

Once upon a time, her parents had also taken her to night markets.

Only everything changed after her younger brothers were born.

The people her parents held hands with were no longer her, but her two younger brothers. She followed behind them like an outsider.

Xie Zhitang’s hands tightened.

Xin Geling looked at the road ahead. It was starting to get congested, and her speed gradually slowed. In the end, it was so blocked that she could only stop.

As soon as she stopped, Xin Geling sensed that the arms around her waist were a little tight. She turned her head slightly, but could not see Xie Zhitang’s expression. Instead, her gaze landed on a mobile stall selling hand-beaten lemon tea less than a meter away from them.

Xin Geling thought that Xie Zhitang’s movement just now meant she wanted something to drink but was too embarrassed to say it. Her thoughts shifted slightly, and she said to the stall owner, “One hand-beaten lemon tea.”

The stall owner said, “Coming right up!”

Xin Geling did not scan a code with her phone to pay. Instead, she took a ten-yuan note from her trouser pocket and handed it over.

These past few days, she had helped Ms. Lin sell cardboard. Ms. Lin had given her fifty yuan and told her to buy whatever she wanted outside, to satisfy her cravings a little.

No matter how much Xin Geling refused, Ms. Lin still stuffed it into her pocket.

It gave Xin Geling the illusion that she had returned to seven years ago, when Ms. Lin would generously give her pocket money after receiving her salary.

Although she had pocket money every week back then, Ms. Lin was always most generous when she got paid, giving her an especially large amount.

This fifty yuan was almost equal to a whole day’s worth of selling cardboard.

The stall owner was surprised that someone was still using cash these days and glanced at her a few more times before quickly giving her four yuan in change.

About three or four minutes later, a cup of hand-beaten lemon tea was handed over.

The traffic was no longer blocked either. Cars and people began moving again.

Xin Geling handed the cup of hand-beaten lemon tea to Xie Zhitang behind her. “For you.”

Xie Zhitang looked at the drink in front of her, stunned. “For me?”

She felt somewhat overwhelmed by the favor.

“Mm.” Xin Geling added, “I can only afford to treat you to this. Don’t mind it.”

It could not compare to the cake Xie Zhitang had bought for her.

Xie Zhitang hesitated before taking it. Her palm touched the cold surface, and she felt something she could not quite describe.

Whether it was Auntie or Sister, who had only just been released from prison and found a job, she knew very well that they were not well-off. One could even say they were struggling on the line of having enough to eat and wear. Yet Sister was willing to spend money to buy her a drink, to treat her.

Just now, when she saw Xin Geling take out ten yuan to buy it, she had thought Sister was buying it for herself.

“Thank you, Sister. How could I mind?”

The electric scooter continued forward. Xie Zhitang wrapped one arm around Xin Geling’s waist, holding the packaged drink by its handle in her right hand and lifting it before her eyes. Looking at this icy cold drink, her heart felt incomparably soft.

“Why did Sister think of treating me?” Xie Zhitang asked.

Xin Geling looked at the gradually darkening sky in the distance. Because her attention was on the road, she answered subconsciously, “Didn’t you want to drink it?”

Xie Zhitang was puzzled and raised her head to look at Xin Geling’s back. “When did I say that?”

Xin Geling fell silent for a moment, quickly weighing in her heart whether it was appropriate to say it out loud, because it seemed… she had misunderstood Xie Zhitang’s actions.

A few seconds later, she closed her eyes in frustration. “Just take it as… I heard wrong.”

What kind of answer was that?

Xie Zhitang grew even more confused. But as Xin Geling turned into a street and the wheels rolled over a speed bump, the question was jolted right out of her.

The electric scooter arrived in front of an apartment building. The apartment ​stolen content​entrance required an access card, so ordinary people could not enter.

Xin Geling stopped the scooter and called the customer.

“Hello, I’m an employee from Maochong Grooming. I’m downstairs at Building A of Yifang Apartments now. The entrance requires an access card. Is it convenient for you to bring the cat down?”

Xie Zhitang stood to the side, both hands clasped behind her back, watching Xin Geling talk to the customer over the phone. Suddenly, she felt that this job was quite interesting.

Xin Geling hung up and looked at Xie Zhitang. “She’ll come down in a bit.”

Xie Zhitang nodded with a smile. “Okay.”

Xin Geling saw that both her drink and bag were held behind her. “Why aren’t you drinking it? Don’t like it?”

Xie Zhitang met her gaze and curved her lips. “I’ll drink it when we get back to the shop.”

“All right.”

Xin Geling noticed that Xie Zhitang’s gaze always seemed to fall on her, making her feel a little unnatural. Was Xie Zhitang a bit too curious about this pet grooming job?

Xin Geling could not figure it out. She took the initiative to move her gaze away and look toward the apartment entrance.

Before long, the apartment door opened, and two girls came out. What they were carrying was not a cat bag, but a blue airline crate, with a large cat inside.

“Is it… you?” one of the girls came forward and asked.

“It’s me.” Xin Geling took it. This cat should weigh eight or nine jin. “It’s for a bath, right?”

“Yes, yes. Sorry to trouble you. About how long will it take?”

“I’ll send it back in an hour. You’ll be at home, right? If you have something to do and need to go out, we can arrange another time to deliver it.”

“Yes, yes, I’ll be at home.”

After everything was explained, the two girls went back. Xin Geling turned and placed the crate on the footboard at the front of the scooter.

“Get on. We’re heading back.”

“Okay.”

Xie Zhitang sat on naturally. Since she had to hold both her bag and the drink, she could only hold Xin Geling’s waist with one hand.

“Sister, your job is very interesting. You get to see different cats every day.”

Xin Geling drove her back along the original route. “But not every cat is obedient and cute.”

Xie Zhitang suddenly could not help laughing. “Are you talking about Tangyuan?”

Tangyuan was the most foul-mouthed little cat she had ever seen.

And he was not obedient either. Even taking a bath required coaxing him.

Xin Geling said, “Tangyuan doesn’t count. Tangyuan can still be coaxed. Some can’t be coaxed at all. They’re very resistant to touching water and will bite as soon as you get close.”

Xie Zhitang asked, “Then what do you do if you encounter that kind of cat?”

Xin Geling said, “That kind of cat usually gets stressed when it touches water. We tell the customer it can’t be washed and has to be sent back.”

Xie Zhitang clutched the hem of her shirt. “Then what kind of personality does Sister think Tangtang will have as a kitten?”