No One Loves Me (GL) - Chapter 9

After the kitten had had enough milk, it pushed the bottle away. Xie Zhitang was momentarily distracted, and the milk from the bottle’s nipple got on the kitten’s little pink nose and the fur on its cheek.

Xie Zhitang made a soft sound of surprise.

Seeing this, Xin Geling took a tissue from the table and wiped the kitten’s face clean to prevent it from getting milk up its nose.

“Are you sure you want to adopt him now?” Xin Geling asked again.

“Of course, I’m adopting him.” Xie Zhitang rubbed the kitten’s ear with her finger. “But I have to go to work every day, so I can’t watch him during the day.”

Xin Geling listened carefully.

Xie Zhitang continued, “How about I board Tangtang here for a while? I’ll take him home when he’s a little older.”

Xin Geling thought about it. The kitten was so small right now that he could easily get sick, get hurt, or fall. If no one was watching him at home, it could lead to an unfortunate outcome.

“But that would be quite expensive.”

At 120 yuan a day for boarding, that would be 1,800 yuan for half a month.

“That’s fine,” Xie Zhitang said, looking at the kitten gently. “Tangtang is worth it.”

He was worth it.

Xin Geling didn’t say anything else. She processed the boarding application for her, and she also grabbed two bags of Royal Canin cat food from the shelf to tally up the total.

After Xie Zhitang paid, she played with the kitten with a cat wand for a while. “Tangtang, Mommy will come to see you every day after work. You have to be good here.”

Xin Geling, who was at the computer, couldn’t help but look over at her.

After about an hour of playing, the kitten was tired. Xie Zhitang handed him to Xin Geling and asked her to put him back in the display cabinet.

It was getting late. Xie Zhitang picked up the two bags of cat food Xin Geling had packed for her. “Sister, I’m heading back now.”

“Okay, be safe,” Xin Geling said, watching her leave.

Xie Zhitang drove across the main road, and Lin Yibing called. Xie Zhitang answered using Bluetooth.

“Hello? What’s up, Bingbing?”

“Director Xie, I wanted to ask how Tangyuan is doing after his surgery,” Lin Yibing said.

“He’s doing well. There’s no inflammation, and his wound is slowly healing. I just saw him at the shop.”

Lin Yibing was surprised. “You went to the shop to see him again?”

This level of care was more than she, the owner, had.

No one was more deserving of the title “Tangyuan’s second mom” than Xie Zhitang.

“Yeah,” Xie Zhitang said. “I bought two bags of Royal Canin cat food for Tangyuan. Remember to get them from me when you come to pick him up in a few days. I’m afraid I’ll forget to give them to you.”

Lin Yibing was even more shocked. “You bought cat food for Tangyuan too?!”

That brand of cat food wasn’t cheap, about 50 yuan a pound.

“I just happened to see it, so I bought it,” Xie Zhitang said.

“Director Xie, you are too kind!” Lin Yibing said.

Not only had she taken it upon herself to take care of him, but she had also paid for his boarding and grooming, visited him every day, and now she was buying him cat food.

If it were possible, she would have Tangyuan bow to Director Xie right then and there and call her “Auntie!”

There were no customers in the shop now, just Xin Geling. She went to the display cabinet. First, she looked at Tangyuan, who was still wearing his Elizabethan collar. He looked a little listless, probably because his balls were still hurting.

She then looked at the other boarded cats. There was a beautiful ragdoll cat that sat regally in the display cabinet, looking at her through the glass.

Its owner was on a business trip and had temporarily boarded it here.

Based on the schedule, its owner should be coming to pick it up today.

As soon as she had that thought, a couple came in. “Hello, we’re here to pick up Niuniu.”

Xin Geling knew they were the owners of the ragdoll cat. “Okay, please wait a moment.”

She then went to get the cat carrier and the remaining cat food that they had stored there. She picked up the ragdoll cat and put it in the carrier.

Its owner looked around the shop and took some cans and treats from the shelf. “How much are these?”

“One moment.”

Xin Geling calculated the total for them, took the payment, and watched them leave with Niuniu.

“Have a good one. We hope to see you again,” she said calmly.

The shop was quiet again. Xin Geling looked at the shelf and started to organize it. Some of the cans were gone, so she had to make a note to remind the boss to order more.

According to her boss, the shop originally only offered pet grooming services. But as customer demand grew, he bought a display cabinet, and many people wanted to board their pets, especially around the end of the year.

Every customer who came to groom their cat also had a habit of buying things, so the boss set up a small shelf and brought in some common cat supplies, canned food, and cat food.

This was one of the shop’s main sources of income.

Xin Geling looked at the little kitten. Its fur was all black. When the lights were off, she probably wouldn’t be able to find it.

“Tangtang,” she said.

“Meow~” Tangtang stretched his front paws forward, lowered his head, and lifted his butt. He let out a lazy yawn.

It was almost time to get off work. Xin Geling prepared his milk, laid out a thick layer of cat litter, and went home, feeling relieved.

When she got back to the apartment complex, she saw her mother organizing cardboard downstairs. Xin Geling called out to her and crouched down to help.

“Geling, are you off work?” her mother asked.

“Yes,” Xin Geling said, tearing open a cardboard box and flattening it to stack with the others.

“I’ve made dinner. You go up and eat first,” Lin Huilan said. She picked up a piece of cardboard and tore off the edge with her bare hands, but a staple pricked her finger.

Lin Huilan hissed and lifted her thumb to look at it. It was bleeding.

Xin Geling heard the noise. She put down the cardboard and took her mother’s hand. “Why are you so careless?”

Lin Huilan heard her daughter’s reproach, but she didn’t feel sad. Instead, her heart softened. “Oops, I forgot to wear my gloves.”

“Let’s go upstairs and stop the bleeding,” Xin Geling said. She took her mother home, pulled out some cotton, disinfectant, and a bandage from an old cookie tin, and cleaned her wound.

“Okay. I’ll go downstairs and deal with the cardboard. You rest at home.”

Xin Geling looked at her mother helplessly. She turned and went back downstairs to quickly deal with the cardboard and carry it up to the third floor.

By the time she was done, it was 8 p.m. After dinner, Xin Geling planned to go for a night run. She had only been running in the mornings these days because of work, and she was afraid it would affect her energy. She wanted to get used to work first before starting to run at night.

Now that she had been working for three or four days, she was well-adjusted.

The night on Lingzhang Street was filled with a sense of the day’s hustle and bustle. The busiest time had passed, and there were far fewer people on the streets.

A fried rice vendor had just finished his last portion and turned off his gas tank. After he had washed the pan, it was clean and shiny.

He slowly pushed his cart back.

Some vendors pushed their carts back to their apartment buildings, and some pushed them back to their shops.

A grilled sausage vendor was packing up and asked the person next to him who was selling barbecue, “I heard you’re leaving? You’re not doing this anymore?”

“Yeah. I’m going back to the countryside next month.”

“Are you not coming back?”

“No.”

“Then what are you going to do with all this stuff?”

“I’ll sell it as a second-hand deal. What else can I do?”

Xin Geling, wearing a black tank top, put on her headphones and started jogging slowly.