I Can Talk to Cats C2

Chapter 2: A Stormy Situation (Part Two)

Translated by Lime

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“Orlando, I haven’t seen you in a while!” Lin Lan greeted him with a smile.

The man shook his head with a look of disapproval: “Eldest Miss, please pardon my intervention, but you were too willful this time. Master and Madam were outraged, but also a bit anxious. They sent me over here to help you handle this situation.”

“Everything has been dealt with. The relationship has been severed already.” Lin Lan smiled at him, “Father and Mother are right, I was too young and naive. I won’t act like this again.”

The elite man said with relief: “The lesson that you learned is very beneficial. At least this experience was meaningful.” As he spoke, he casually glanced over at the cheating couple, and returned his gaze to Lin Lan: “If you really want to find true love, there are other approaches you can take. In fact, you didn’t have to do so in such an extreme manner. Having similar social status is an important factor as well. Without a decent economic foundation, even the most heartfelt feelings are a castle in the air. Please remember this next time.”

_{(T/N: Castle in the air = Chinese idiom that means unrealistic ideal)}

“I understand, Orlando,” Lin Lan readily acknowledged.

The man was finally satisfied and reached his hand inside his briefcase. He pulled out an envelope, “Eldest Miss, the first-class airplane ticket you asked me to book to Athens is right here. Why did you specifically ask me to travel on a public flight? Although applications for a private air route are troublesome in China, we could have resolved it quickly if you needed one. After I booked these, Madam asked me if all your money was swindled and whether you were secretly returning home on this public flight.”

“It’s not like that at all, Mother is always worried for no reason.” Lin Lan smiled as she received the envelope and shook out the contents. Two blue and white cards with conspicuous Air China logos appeared in front of everyone’s eyes. 

There were two boarding passes.

Lin Lan lightly dangled the cards and glanced at the stiff Shao Xiuye. She smiled: “Shao Xiuye, originally, I had wanted to surprise you. I would have said that I won my company’s annual raffle which was a two person trip for five days and four nights to Greece. This way, I could secretly let you meet my parents. It’s clear to me now that these are useless.”

As she spoke, Lin Lan did not hesitate to tear the two boarding passes in half. A gust of autumn wind blew the pieces away. Some curious onlookers stepped on the pieces and read the date out loud, realizing that the flight was scheduled for today.

The spectators gossiped and shook their heads. They didn’t know whether to feel pity or gloat at Shao Xiuye. If he didn’t break up with her, the passes would have been used.

“I almost forgot.” Lin Lan reached up and unzipped her windbreaker. She took it off and said, “Do you still remember this article of clothing? It was the first present you gave me after we started to date and I always treasured it. Today, I’m returning it to you; it marks both the beginning and end of our relationship.”

She stepped forward and stuffed the windbreaker into the hands of a motionless Shao Xiuye. Lin Lan has a smile on her face the entire time. Without being prompted, the middle-aged chauffeur that was standing next to the Rolls-Royce stepped back into the car and brought out an overcoat.

“Eldest Miss, the temperature is cool today so you must wear another layer. Master and Madam would be heartbroken if you fell sick.”

As the driver spoke, he quickly draped a trench coat over Lin Lan’s shoulders.

“Thank you, Uncle Yu.”  Lin Lan smiled with appreciation and put on the coat with ease.

The material of the violet-colored coat was very high quality. It made the previously youthful girl appear elegant.

“Damn, my boss’ wife also has this coat! My colleague told me that this was part of Chanel’s latest collection and it was even limited edition. Not only is it expensive, but it is hard to purchase as well.” A random onlooker couldn’t help but shout out. The other melon eaters were astonished. 

_{(T/N: Melon eaters = onlookers that are interested in the drama/gossip even though it is none of their business.)}

Lin Lan ignored the stares of all the spectators and buttoned up the coat. She removed her hair tie causing her long, straight hair to spread out on her shoulders. Before, she was an ordinary beauty, but now she appeared to be a prestigious young lady.

“It’s getting late, I still have to catch a plane home. Goodbye.” Lin Lan picked up her sunglasses that her elite assistant offered, and after bidding saying a few final words, the man escorted her to the Rolls-Royce. The assistant moved to prevent his mistress’ head from bumping into the car frame. Lin Lan looked back at the two people: “Compared to me, Miss Jiang really is more suited for Shao Xiuye. I will congratulate you two on your happiness.”

She wore her sunglasses and sat in the car.

When the car door closed, the luxury car started and moved into the busy street. It soon disappeared, leaving the adulterous pair with stiff faces and a group of melon eaters.

Compared with the Shao Xiuye who was in a trance the entire time, Miss Jiang was the first to recover and gritted her teeth. It was hard for her to bear all the disapproving looks from around her. Rudely, she slapped the windbreaker out of Shao Xiuye’s hands and dragged him inside the Bentley: “I don’t believe her. This woman is definitely a liar and wanted to embarrass me on purpose.”

The fiery red sports car left with a furious roar. The people on the street wanted more, but this street melon, full of twists and turns, was more than enough to serve as a conversation topic for several days. They hurried home to share the gossip with their family.

The silver Rolls-Royce drove at a constant speed to the airport. With such a prestigious car, it seemed like there were always dangers everywhere, so the chauffeur had to stay calm.

Lin Lan sat silently in the car, looking at the scenery outside the window. All of a sudden, she started laughing.

“If it wasn’t for this situation, I probably would never be able to ride such a nice car in my entire life.” Facing the driver in the front seat, she genuinely laughed: “Thank you so much, Uncle Yu. I’m causing trouble again.” 

“Don’t treat me like an outsider!” The middle-aged driver of the previously rich lady smiled back, his elderly tone full of care for the younger generation: “We have been neighbors for so many years already. Your family has helped us frequently in the past. The mere fact that you asked me to help makes me happy. You set up everything perfectly. If I hadn’t taken part in the act, I really would have believed that you were a rich young lady.”

“It was just a small act to deceive people.” Lin Lan smiled and turned to look at the handsome assistant. “For this act to turn out so well, I also need to thank Kunta, the international student. You deserve to have been admitted to Shanghai University since your performance was very convincing.”

The student who had just taken off his golden glasses was embarrassed and smiled: “Since Boss already paid me, I naturally had to do my job diligently. Although I can only play the role of an elite now, I want to become a wealthy man in the future.” He raised his head and studied the luxurious interior of the car and sighed.

The uncle that was driving laughed loudly, “You need to work hard, youngster. This car isn’t cheap in your country either! I can only rely on my company to borrow it.”

In other words, none of the three people in the car were wealthy. They had only played the role of an influential family.

“I just remembered, Lan Lan, how did you find out that that bastard was cheating?” Uncle Yu couldn’t help but ask what he was most curious about, “Even more, how did you know that he was breaking up with you today? Tell us how it happened.”

“I just knew.” Lin Lan’s mouth flattened, disgusted by the mention of her ex-boyfriend: “Three months ago, I pieced together that he was cheating.”

In modern day society, many young couples used video calls to communicate with each other. Moreover, she and Shao Xiuye were in a long-distance relationship, so it was a must. The first time that Lin Lan noticed something was wrong was during their first video call.

Shao Xiuye mostly held his mobile phone while chatting with her. Afterwards, he had to take care of something and set it down on a coffee table. The camera coincidentally filmed the waste bin on the ground.

“Inside the waste bin were two torn snack bags. With one glance, I was able to tell that women had been inside his house.” As Lin Lan spoke, she saw the dumbfounded expressions of her listeners: “No matter what, Shao Xiuye will completely tear off the opening strip of a bag. I have never seen him open just a small portion but those two snack bags were almost completely intact. Besides, the flavors of the snacks were also more suited for girls.”

“So this is how you figured out that he cheated?” Uncle Yu was confused: “What if he had guests visiting his house?”

The international student nodded his head in agreement, but neither of the two men wanted to ask her if she was crazy.

“If it was only this, of course I wouldn’t be able to say that he was cheating. Even though my intuition was telling me that something was wrong.” Lin Lan was a very rational person and explained further, “A few days before this video call, he was complaining that his company had a very competitive environment, and his colleagues were distancing from him and he did not make any new friends. So how come a few days later, a new friend that was close enough to come over to his house appeared? He specifically prepared snacks for his person, do you really think that this is a coincidence?”

Both the men were too afraid to speak and Lin Lan continued.

“If this was the only point of suspicion, I would have disregarded it. However I am certain that he cheated around two months ago.” At the European restaurant, when Lin Lan brought up the AJ shoes, Shao Xiuye’s reaction was odd, making her feel annoyed. 

“During another video call at that time, I saw the latest pair of AJ’s in his room. After the call ended, I searched up the market price and to my surprise, they were 8000 yuan. You both probably don’t understand. At that time, Shao Xiuye’s monthly salary was around 6000 yuan. Every month he would send back around 2000 yuan to his parents and would only have 4000 yuan left to cover his rent, utilities, food, and other miscellaneous expenses. Where do you think he got the money to buy such costly shoes in a heartbeat? Besides, he had lived frugally before this. Tell me, under what kind of circumstances would a stingy person suddenly buy luxury items beyond his monthly salary? A fairy godmother?”

_{(T/N: 8000 yuan ≈ $1,130 USD, 6000 yuan ≈ $850 USD. Keep in mind that the cost of living in China is lower than countries such as the U.S.)}

The more Lin Lan recounted the events, the colder her eyes became.

“As time went on, we had less and less contact, and his attitude towards me became more and more perfunctory. I was absolutely sure that my speculation was right. This month was the very first time he asked me to meet up for a date. Before, all the previous dates were when I had taken the initiative to go over. Isn’t that enough to say that he was breaking up with me today?

After she finished, the two men, old or young, local or foreign, both did not dare to breathe, and were secretly terrified. Women usually looked simple-minded, but when it came to sniffing out deception, they were even better than Sherlock Holmes. Their intuition was oddly precise and the revenge that came after was a very… unique experience.

The student that was studying abroad wholeheartedly vowed that if he had a lover later on, he would never be hesitant. If he met a vengeful woman, he was going to survive with his life, but he would feel terrible about it for his entire lifetime.

All of a sudden, Uncle Yu saw something in the rear view mirror and his eyes opened wide in shock: “Lan Lan, you actually guessed it! That shameless couple actually caught up to us!”

The student turned back, but Lin Lan wasn’t surprised at all. Her mouth only sneered, “I knew that the other woman would be unresigned and that she would want to see it for herself.”

After finding out that Shao Xiuye cheated on her, how could Lin Lan not secretly ask about the other woman? The boss of his company only had one daughter, and she was extremely spoiled. This caused her character to be arrogant. When she was given a slap in the face by Lin Lan in public, the woman would be convinced that she was lying. 

But Lin Lan wasn’t scared at all.

Although she had been dating Shao Xiuye for more than two years, she never exactly talked about what her parents did for a living. The only information that she told him was that they owned a business in their hometown. Lin Lan was not afraid of Shao Xiuye accidentally revealing important information. Her personal life was very private. With her colleagues at work, she had paid attention to what she said and never mentioned anything about herself. She did not post selfies and the information that was available online was minimal. Even if a local passerby secretly took a picture of her and posted it, she would not be worried.

As for other ‘props’ used on the scene?

The Chanel coat that she wore was the real deal and cost several thousand yuan which she purchased with her own money. All of the other ‘props’ were used to act pretentious in front of the cheating couple. The trip to Greece was the grand prize of an online raffle she somehow won with her dog sh*t luck. She didn’t need to spend a single penny. The boarding passes that she ripped up were also real, but she had other ways to board that plane.

The foreign student took her two weeks to find. By chance, he was going back to Greece soon, so after giving him a performance fee and a first class ticket back home, the student gladly agreed. He would play the part of an elite assistant and had put in a lot of effort to do so.

And for the Rolls-Royce that they were currently sitting in?

The chauffeur, Uncle Yu, has been Lin Lan’s neighbor for more than ten years in their hometown. He worked at a large wedding company and the extravagant car was recently purchased by his company. It was intended to be used to rent out to newlyweds. When Lin Lan called to ask Uncle Yu for help, he borrowed the car with no hesitation and it turned out to be the most eye-catching out of all the props that were used. Out of respect for Uncle Yu, his boss gladly agreed to rent it out to her at market price.

_{(T/N: I don’t know about other places, but in China, there are wedding “processions” that the groom/bride and their families/bridesmaids/groomsmen participate in. There are several luxury cars, and in my experience, everyone crams inside and rides around in a sort of parade. That’s what the Rolls-Royce is supposed to be used for in the wedding company.)}

In other words, it was impossible for that woman to find out anything in such a short amount of time.

Lin Lan and Shao Xiuye’s relationship had officially become long-distance less than six months ago, and this stupid man had already betrayed her. He pretended everything was fine but behind her back, he was cheating with another woman.

If he had decisively broken up with her after his betrayal, perhaps Lin Lan wouldn’t be this angry. So what if they separate, she understood that in long-distance relationships, it was common for people to be dissatisfied.

However, he was flirting with rich women while trying to deceive her until he was certain that Miss Jiang was interested in dating him. Then, he heartlessly kicked Lin Lan to the side. Of course, she would want revenge.

What was even more disgusting was that the rich woman was aware that Shao Xiuye was already dating her and continued to tempt him. With the temperament of willfully chasing after whatever caught her eye, the woman was very self-centered and had no moral burden whatsoever.

This scum man and lowly woman were a perfect match, making Lin Lan feel justified in her revenge.

The act that was played out was not only to release pent-up anger but to make sure that the shameless Shao Xiuye would live in regret.

In a person’s lifetime, there were already too many situations in which one had to compromise. Lin Lan didn’t want to add another one to the pile and chose revenge. In the future, she would think of this and would be able to hold back.

She would rather spend all her life’s savings than get breast cancer from all her anger.

Lin Lan slowly reached inside her bag and pulled out a makeup mirror. She fixed her hair and touched up her makeup. They were getting closer and closer to the airport so she turned toward the Greek student beside her: “Once we get off the car, we need to act again. I’ll have to trouble you again, thanks.”

The young international student was shocked. The events that happened today finally let him understand why Chinese people were said to be overthinkers. Even a woman breaking up with her partner required a plan, making him amazed.

After he recovered from his daze, he was a little excited. He put on his golden glasses and regained the appearance of an elite. He said, “Don’t worry Boss, I won’t let them see through my act.”

With their own eyes, they saw the luxurious Rolls-Royce stop at the entrance to the airport. The rich woman and Shao Xiuye that were following them watched as Lin Lan and her assistant casually entered the green VIP lane to check in. They avoided the line for ordinary passengers and before long, the two were gone. Even if the couple wanted to refute Lin Lan’s identity, they couldn’t refute the undeniable facts that just occurred.

The rich woman was helplessly gritting her teeth while Shao Xiuye was in a daze the entire time, staring at the entrance where the two disappeared.

Suddenly, a harsh slap landed on his face and the pain brought him out from his shock. The first thing that Shao Xiuye saw was the woman’s furious face. She screamed at him: “Do you regret it now?”

“I, I… No, no, I don’t… Ah!” Even if he denied it, Shao Xiuye’s drifting eyes betrayed him and the woman slapped him again.

Like this, a one-sided martial arts display took place in the busy hall of the airport,

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Again, the rest of the novel is not like this. It is much more relaxed and fun 🙂

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