No One Loves Me (GL) - Chapter 12

“Tangtang should be…”

Xin Geling said the name, and her mind involuntarily conjured up the image of Xie Zhitang.

The nickname was just too evocative.

After a few seconds, she forced herself to think of the kitten.

“He shouldn’t be the noisy, biting type.”

“Have you ever thought that Tangtang’s personality might be different from what you expect?” Xie Zhitang asked. “Would you still like a kitten that strays from your expectations?”

Xin Geling didn’t think it was a big deal. “He’s just a kitten. I’ll like him whether he’s quiet or noisy.”

“What if he goes beyond what you can tolerate? What if he hurts you?”

Xin Geling drove onto the street, thinking she was asking all these questions to get advice on how to raise a cat. “I’ll guide him properly.”

“Actually, if you guide a kitten from a young age, his personality won’t become too bad when he grows up. You don’t have to worry too much.”

“Mhm,” Xie Zhitang said. “You know a lot, Sister.”

Xin Geling smiled. “It’s normal to know these things when you’re in this line of work. If you have any questions, you can ask me.”

“Okay,” Xie Zhitang said.

Ten minutes later, they were back at the shop. Xin Geling carried the cat into the grooming room and started to bathe it.

Meanwhile, Xie Zhitang was in the living room, drinking the simple lemonade. She held a cat wand and waved it at Tangyuan and Tangtang in the display cabinet.

“This is the first time Sister has bought me a drink since she got out of prison,” she said softly to the two cats.

She waved the cat wand. The little bell on it jingled brightly, captivating the two kittens and making their eyes follow it up, down, left, and right.

Just then, a customer walked into the pet grooming shop. Xie Zhitang heard the sound and looked over.

She didn’t expect it, but she saw the same girl from before.

The girl nodded at Xie Zhitang, thinking she was also a customer who had come to buy something. She then peeked into the grooming room, seemingly looking for someone.

“Excuse me, is the other lady here?” the girl asked.

“Are you looking for her for something?” Xie Zhitang asked.

“I’m here to buy something from her,” the girl said.

Xie Zhitang looked at her from head to toe, seeing through her intentions immediately. She said, “She’s not a lesbian. She doesn’t like girls.”

The girl’s face turned pale, and she was a little flustered. “I-I didn’t mean it that way…”

Looking at the gentle and calm woman in front of her, the girl felt like her thoughts had been exposed, and she became even more incoherent. “I… I’m going to go now!”

Xie Zhitang watched her flee in a hurry, a smile on her face.

“Did someone just come in?”

Xin Geling came out of the grooming room with a cat wrapped in a towel. She looked outside and caught a glimpse of a person hurrying away.

Xie Zhitang turned around and explained in a gentle voice, “Someone came in to look at the shop and then left.”

Xin Geling thought it might have been a customer checking out the place. If the environment met their expectations, they would bring their pet in for a bath or boarding.

Xin Geling didn’t think much of it. She wiped the cat dry and put it in the dryer box. She then went back to the grooming room to disinfect the towels and grooming supplies to prevent any diseases like feline panleukopenia or ringworm from spreading to the next cat.

She also disinfected herself.

By the time she came out, the cat was almost dry.

Xin Geling took it out to deworm it. There was a phone stand beside her, recording a short video of her deworming the cat.

Xie Zhitang thought this was a very good idea. She was impressed that the shop had considered every little detail.

If there were no video records of the deworming process, customers would doubt if it had been done.

“Sister, what’s this?” Xie Zhitang asked, watching her open a box and take out a tube-shaped object.

“It’s an external deworming medicine,” Xin Geling said. She broke open the applicator of the Revolution Plus and parted the fur on the back of the cat’s neck, applying the liquid to the skin.

“Does the shop usually use this brand?” Xie Zhitang asked thoughtfully.

Xin Geling threw the applicator into the trash. “The customer specifically requested this brand. The boss probably charged extra for it. It’s quite expensive and is used with the Milbemax internal dewormer.”

“Is Milbemax something you take orally?” Xie Zhitang asked.

“Yes,” Xin Geling said.

Xie Zhitang nodded in understanding. She watched Xin Geling take a 56mg pink pill from a box of Milbemax. Then, she held the cat’s mouth open, pried its teeth apart, and quickly put the pill deep down its throat.

The cat didn’t even have time to react. It swallowed the pill after a few gulps.

“Sister, is there a special way to do this when you’re giving a cat medicine?” Xie Zhitang asked, glancing at her index finger. It was wet with a little of the cat’s saliva, looking clear and transparent. She watched Xin Geling take a tissue and wipe her hand.

Xin Geling thought she was just being studious and taking an interest in raising a cat. She explained, “This makes it easier for him to swallow the medicine. If you put it on his tongue, he’ll spit it out.”

“I see,” Xie Zhitang said, looking at her from the side, as if she was learning something new.

Xin Geling smiled faintly. “Ever since you adopted Tangtang, you’ve been so invested. You’ve been asking all these questions.”

When Tangyuan had come in, she hadn’t asked anything about raising cats.

Maybe this was the difference between her own cat and someone else’s.

Xie Zhitang was surprised to be praised. She gracefully smoothed her hair behind her ear. “Since I adopted him, it’s my responsibility to take care of him.”

“I have to send him back,” Xin Geling said, checking the time. “After I drop him off, it’ll be almost time to get off work.”

Thinking of something, Xin Geling looked at Xie Zhitang. “Do you have any other plans for tonight?”

Xie Zhitang sensed that she might want to ask her out. She shook her head. “No.”

Xin Geling thought for a moment. “Then when I get back, do you want to go for a walk? There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

Xie Zhitang was surprised to see her so serious. The word “talk” meant her sister considered this to be a serious matter.

“Okay.”

Xin Geling went out to deliver the customer’s cat. She came back a short while later. Xie Zhitang and her left work together and walked onto the street.

Xin Geling took her to a street with food stalls. “Do you want some barbecue?”

Xie Zhitang thought she was going to talk about business, but when she heard her question, she was confused. “Huh?”

Xin Geling turned slightly toward Xie Zhitang. “It’s my treat.”

Xie Zhitang still couldn’t follow her line of thinking. “Why do you suddenly want to treat me?”

Didn’t barbecue cost money, too?

And this was the first time she had called herself “Sister.”

“My mother gave me some pocket money,” Xin Geling explained.

Xie Zhitang understood but not really. She decided to be a little sister who was being treated. “Okay.”

Xin Geling took her to a barbecue stall and told her to order whatever she liked.

Xie Zhitang ordered a skewer of bone-in-meat, chicken knee, beef, lamb, and chicken cartilage.

After Xin Geling paid, they waited at the stall together. A few minutes later, the barbecue was handed to them in a paper boat.

Xie Zhitang hesitated before picking up a skewer and taking a bite.

“How is it?” Xin Geling asked, her eyes on her.

Xie Zhitang chewed slowly, savoring the flavor. “It’s good. Very tasty.”

Xin Geling held the paper boat with the remaining four skewers and said, “Xie Zhitang, I’m going to borrow some money from the card you gave me. I’ll pay you back when I earn the money. Is that okay?”

Her mother only had a thousand or two yuan in savings. Although she could ask her for it, she didn’t want to risk using the money her mother had worked so hard to save by collecting cardboard. If she lost the money, it would only make things worse for their family.

And because she had been to prison, banks wouldn’t lend her money. And as for her relatives and friends, there was no need to even mention it. If they had extended a helping hand all these years, her mother wouldn’t have to rely on collecting cardboard to survive.

Now, the only person she could borrow money from was Xie Zhitang.