I Can Talk to Cats C8

Chapter 8: Her Application (Part Two)

Translated by Lime

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In this chapter, we finally meet the love interest! The author claims that this book has a romantic subplot, and it is true; most of the novel focuses on the cat café.

Please keep in mind that chapters 3-8 have not been thoroughly edited or re-translated yet so there will be mistakes.

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After saying goodbye to the two small cats, Lin Lan took out her phone and started looking for the addresses of other companies that were interested in her.

One of the more desirable companies had moved her application on to the next round, but she still had to keep searching for other offers.

Because of the recent events, Lin Lan also realized a different approach to job hunting.

She called her family to tell them that she would come back late, and to eat dinner without her. Then, she drove to the location of the next company on her moped.

Thinking about the entire country, even the most prosperous cities could not be without the presence of stray cats, especially the ones that were small and good at hiding. Most of them walked around on the streets without being noticed by humans, and were able to gather a lot of information.

Now that she was able to understand the meows of cats, Lin Lan did not have the burden of trying to find out more about a potential workplace. 

The time in one afternoon is neither long or short, but it passes unknowingly for a busy person.

It was getting closer to autumn and winter. The total amount of daylight was shrinking and the sun set earlier. The street lights turn on in rows, lighting up the road that had dimmed.

After working overtime for two hours, Cheng Fengyang finally finished his day’s work, and drove his treasured Mercedes Benz SUV home like most other office workers at that time.

As the car drove on the road, he was turning the steering wheel and chatting with his close friend on the phone: “Aiya, I’ve worked hard this entire month to make sure that Party A’s requests were completely finished. It’s really not easy to make a living. I’ve changed the designs of that customer so many times I can’t keep count and went to their house countless times as well. The lady told me that she wanted to buy the house for her son and daughter-in-law, but her requests were even more than the people who were going to live there! When she went to take a look, she wanted an avant-garde style for the bathroom. The living room must have an area for a lucky peony screen, but can’t give off a rustic vibe. The most outrageous request was for the bedroom to be separated into two, one area for the husband and wife, and another for the child. However, it can not block the light from the balcony…”

When the contract was finally over, Cheng Fengyang loosened his lips and as he spoke, his saliva flew everywhere, and he said that he had suffered for a while.

From the speaker of the phone, laughter was heard. His friend on the other side said:【Isn’t this normal? This year, Party A is the father, isn’t it right to follow all his requests? Besides, you are a senior designer in the industry. The money you must have made is not little either.】

“That’s what they all say, but earning money is still hard.” Cheng Fengyang said, “Let me tell you Gangzi, I am still single, and haven’t even thought about a wife. I might even have to support her in the future, and the burden is just so heavy.”

【Scram!】The voice from the speakers shouted, 【You’re part of the second generation. Don’t sit here and shamlessly complain to me. Don’t think that I don’t know about the incident ten years ago. Your family’s house was demolished ten years ago, and received four houses as compensation. Your father even used two of them to rent out as shops in the center of the city! Every month, the money earned by laying back can rival the annual income of some people!】

_{(T/N: Second generation = descendant of a wealthy man. Also did you catch that? This Cheng Fengyang is part of the Cheng family referenced earlier that got 4 houses from the demolition of the street across from the Lin family.)}

“Well, that’s my father’s property, not mine.” Cheng Fengyang argued back, “And I’m not an only child.”

【You really want to argue with me!?】The person on the other side was about to start scolding again:【Your parents only had you and your older sister, and since your older sister had already moved out, your parents gave her an apartment already. Isn’t the rest all yours? You really want to tell me that you might not be able to support yourself? Let me go tell your older sister to have her scold you as well!】

“You can’t drive a wedge between me and my sister. We have a pretty good relationship. If you dare to tell on me, I’ll tell your girlfriend that you bought a several thousand yuan VR gaming headset the other day!”

【Cheng Fengyang. I dare you to snitch on me!】The other side sounded flustered.

“You’re welcome, an eye for an eye, isn’t it intimate when we all stab at each other.”

_{(T/N: The actual text here is an idiom that roughly means ‘an eye for an eye’. ‘你做初一我就做十五’ = ‘If you are the first day of the month, I am the fifteenth.’ There are a few different ways to interpret this, but just think of it as ‘I want to do it because you did’.)}

After joking and annoying each other, Cheng Fengyang turned onto another street. It was not the main road, but rather a shortcut, so the flow of traffic was less.

When his car turned onto the road, Cheng Fengyang was stunned.

“The lights don’t work?” Originally, this road didn’t lead anywhere and the few streetlights were scattered randomly. This made the road look very dark and gloomy ahead.

However, this didn’t deter him. He switched on the headlights of his car and the dark road was now illuminated for a stretch.

Then he saw that on this road, there was not only him, but also someone riding a moped.

“Why didn’t you turn on the light on this dark road?” Cheng Fengyang muttered. With the light from the headlights, he was able to see that the rider on the moped was a female wearing business attire, alone at night. He sighed, “Life really isn’t easy.”

Lin Lan was in a depressed mood at the moment.

In the afternoon, she drove around to three companies that were interested in her. Two of them had stray cats around, and for the third, there was a cat in the nearby shop. She soon heard about the recent events that happened in those companies.

One of the companies was currently laying off people, and because they were required to pay a dismissal fee, they deliberately did things to force the employees to resign themselves.

Another company lied about the benefits, and intentionally changed them to be better online. It was said that Friday and Tuesday were the off days, but in reality were Saturday and Sunday. The employee benefits were also almost halved. On top of that, they also forced their employees to work overtime without any overtime pay.

There were no problems with the operations of the third company, but the boss and one of the female staff had an intimate relationship, and were caught in the act by his wife. It was said that the female staff did not show up today.

Lin Lan was speechless. Even though she had long expected that most of these companies would not be the right match, she was still tired of meeting them one after the other.

After the adventures of her day, the sky had already started to dim, and when she fulfilled her promise to Snowflake, the sun had gone down already. Lin Lan had to set out on her moped into the dark night.

Now, she was taking a shortcut where the lights didn’t even work.

It was impossible to take another road, as her moped was almost out of battery, and she slowly rode home in order to conserve the battery. Because she was embarrassed to be going so slow, she turned off the lights, and could barely see.

Until the car appeared behind her and the headlights illuminated the road in front of her. Lin Lan’s tense heart also was relieved. Not wanting to hinder the driver, she drove her moped to the side of the road and waited for the other to pass.

But the car behind her didn’t accelerate. Instead, it slowed down and kept following her at a constant speed. It didn’t come too close or stay too far away. The road in front of Lin Lan was lit up.

_{(T/N: AH! This is actually so cute!)}

Were they… lighting the road for her?

With this unexpected kindness from a stranger, Lin Lan looked back, but was blinded by the dazzling lights and immediately turned back around. It was hard to even see the car itself, much less the driver of the car.

She didn’t bother to look anymore and increased the speed of her moped to exit the road as soon as possible. The car behind her accelerated slightly to follow her.

In this manner, the small moped and the car finished the length of the dark road.

When they returned to the main road with bright lights, Lin Lan returned to the non-motorized lane and turned to look at the car. 

Her eyes widened unexpectedly. Under the street light, she was able to see the dark blue color of the car clearly. The vehicle accelerated and left the moped behind. Lin Lan also saw the license plate at the back, and determined that it was the car from this morning.

Recalling the earlier situation with the driver teasing the dog next to him, and then thinking about their good intentions towards a stranger just now, Lin Lan, who continued to ride the moped, was conflicted.

She saw that the car slowed down, and turned directly into the entrance of the high-end community. The bar was lifted up, and Lin Lan also arrived at her family’s apartment building.

“It turned out to be the resident opposite from us.” She murmured as she got down from the moped and wheeled it back into the basement.

She arrived home very late, and her stomach was hungry. It was better to go upstairs for dinner than wonder about these sorts of things.

Lin Lan felt like she had been possessed by the spirit of misfortune. From that day on, her job search was not fruitful, as the companies that she was always interested in had some sort of problem.

For several days, she was angry and didn’t want to go out. She sat on the sofa while hugging the white cat and complained to her family, “Mom, Dad, what kind of situation is this!”

Towards his daughter’s anger, Lin Youyu was a little helpless, and to comfort her said: “Lan Lan, how about for the next six months, you just stay home. When the new year passes, you can go to find a job at the peak of recruitment.”

“You are too picky when looking for a job.” Mother Lin said the words that Father Lin didn’t say, “Some of the companies that you mentioned to us before weren’t that bad. It’s not like you can’t withstand some of those incidents.”

“I’m not that picky.” Lin Lan was not convinced by her mother’s scolding, and even the cat’s movements were bigger. “I have already compromised on my salary, and I just want to be able to work in a quiet company. Snowflake, your grandma scolds me so much everyday, I’m so pitiful.”

Lin Lan told her as she lowered her head. The big white cat immediately started meowing at Wang Xiuzhi, as if she was fighting for Lin Lan.

Wang Xiuzhi was enraged but found it somewhat funny at the same time: “You turned Snowflake against me!” Even though her words were harsh, as a mother, she loved her daughter dearly. “If you can’t get the job that you want, just do as your dad says. You should just stay home and look for a job next year.” Besides, the Lin family didn’t lack the money.

Lin Lan sighed after hearing these words: “I’ll just do that then.”

So this way, Lin Lan was officially idle.

In the late autumn season, the temperature gradually decreased, which allowed the jobless person to sleep in until nine to ten everyday. She didn’t even bother to eat breakfast, and just ate lunch directly. But this kind of lifestyle only lasted for two days before being banned by Mother Lin, who took Lin Lan’s quilt.

“I was already used to doing this when you were in school! Get up! People who don’t have a job will do housework with me!” Wang Xiuzhi loved her daughter, but did not allow her to be lazy. “The porridge is in the pot, after you finish eating, you are going to help me collect all the bedsheets and wash them!”

Lin Lan’s spirits fell, and filled her stomach first. Then she went to help her mother.

At that time, Father Lin went to oversee the shop, and Grandma Lin went to the senior activity group, so only Lin Lan and her mother remained… Oh, and that big white cat.

“Miaow—” Holding the bed covers that she just removed, and was on her way to the washing machine when she heard Snowflake’s voice.

“Are you going out to play?” Lin Lan stopped to look at the cat, “Then remember to come home to eat, I’ll make you a meal.”

“Miaow!” Snowflake’s tail suddenly straightened, meaning that he was very happy.

Lin Lan also smiled: “Are you saying that my cat food is very delicious? Even better than your grandmother’s? This will make her mad, be careful that she doesn’t hear.”

“I already heard it.” Wang Xiuzhi, who was wearing an apron, stared at her daughter, “I make you do a little bit of work, and you complain about me on the spot. Then, in the future, I will let you make all of Snowflake’s meals.”

This can’t work!

Lin Lan quickly said: “Snowflake! Your grandma is angry, hurry up and please her!”

Wang Xiuzhi thought that her daughter was making a joke, and was just about to tell her to stop using the cat to change the subject, when Snowflake really trotted towards her. He rubbed his head against Wang Xiuzhi while meowing, which did relieve some of her anger.

“You little tricky fellow.” The middle-aged woman hugged Snowflake in her arms, and clearly disliked the cat’s favoritism towards her daughter. “Why do you only listen to Lan Lan? She brought you back, but I was the one who fed you the longest.”

Seeing Snowflake bewitch her mother, Lin Lan let out a sigh of relief, and rushed out to the balcony with the covers.

Compared with her grandmother’s balcony that was filled with various vegetables, the balcony that Lin Lan was standing on was almost exclusively used to grow cat grass for Snowflake. In a few of the pots, irregular traces of nibbling was seen at the bottom.

Lin Lan put her bed cover into the washing machine and started it. When she went back to the living room, Mother Lin had stopped teasing the cat and opened the door to let Snowflake go out for a walk.

After the cat left, Wang Xiuzhi looked at Lin Lan with a bit of discontent: “You are never here year round. How come Snowflake is still so close to you? And, she even listens to you.”

“It’s probably because he has humanity. He knows that I saved him, and that I’m different.” Lin Lan told her mother a random excuse.

If she said directly that she was able to understand the language of cats, the people around her would only laugh and joke at her.

“Humph.” But now she has to face her mother’s discontent.

The work had to be continued. The mother and daughter went to Grandma Lin’s house to help wash her sheets as well. Then, they went back to their own home. Lin Lan’s sheets didn’t need to be replaced, so they just washed the sheets of Mother Lin and Father Lin. After removing the duvet cover, Lin Lan helped to uncover the bed sheet when her mother abruptly stopped after seeing something.

“Mom, what’s wrong?” Lin Lan asked as she was waiting for the pillowcase.

Wang Xiuzhi didn’t speak, and took off the pillowcase, uncovering the pillow.

The Lin family’s pillows were made out of latex, and would not become deformed. People who buy these kinds of pillows all know that latex pillows have small holes. When the pillowcase was removed, Lin Lan could clearly see the pillow dotted with pieces of red paper. 

Well… the paper was actually pinkish red bills.

Wang Xiuzhi used her finger to pull out one of the bills. The carefully folded paper gradually unfurled. Grandpa Mao’s face and the number 100 appeared in front of the women.

_{(T/N: Grandpa Mao = Mao Zedong, the former chairman of the Communist Party. He is printed on the 100 yuan bills.)}

There were still so many holes in the pillow that were plugged with the pinkish red paper.

The bedroom was very quiet.

Looking at her speechless mother in front of her, Lin Lan could not help but mourn for her father downstairs.

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LOL. Father Lin’s secret stash was found! Cheng Fengyang appears again in a few chapters, so we’ll be seeing more of him later. Thanks for reading!

I realize that I’ve been somewhat rushing through translating some of these chapters and I will re-translate chapters 3-8 to explore more of the nuances of the Chinese text. I feel like I need to give the original work justice. Thanks for your patience ❤

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