I Can Talk to Cats C24

Chapter 24: Opening of the Cafe (Part Three)

Translated by Lime

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Tang Xiaoya, a cat lover trying to coax a kitty, ordered numerous cans of cat food. However, when she requested more, the beautiful shop attendant had unexpectedly rejected her.

“Customer, although our shop offers an unlimited supply of nutritional canned cat food, you should not keep feeding him constantly. Even though Maine Coons are very capable of eating a great deal, you can’t keep using this method to prevent him from running away.”

Lin Lan had given Tang Xiaoya three cans of nutritional cat food instead of the cans of cat snacks which eating too much of would lead to stomach problems, but when she saw her unbridled attitude of almost forcing the food upon the cat, Lin Lan panicked.

This incident really gave her a wake up call.

Fortunately, her shop had just opened and there were not many customers yet. Plus, the Maine Coon’s appetite was huge and he had not eaten all that much. Afterwards, when the number of customers increased, she must prevent this from happening again.

In the end, it was her own fault due to her inexperience, so she would definitely remember this incident.

She reminded herself to record the incident later. Currently, Lin Lan still had to deal with the customer who had her heart dead set on winning over the Maine Coon: “The milk tea that you ordered has cooled already. Should I go warm it up?”

Tang Xiaoya, who had been messing around the cat, realized that she had not touched the food from earlier. Embarrassed, she replied, “Thank you. Uh, could you get me an additional roasted sausage?”

She was prepared to spend her entire day here, so naturally, she would also dine here.

“Okay, please wait for a moment.” The pretty attendant smiled and left.

A few minutes later, the reheated milk tea and the fragrant hot dog were brought over. Tang Xiaoya was indeed hungry as it was nearing 11 o’clock. Reluctantly parting with the big kitty, she returned to her table.

The Maine Coon kitty, Mercury, was finally granted a reprieve from the persistent human. In the blink of an eye, he scurried onto the cat tower to a place inaccessible to humans. In that moment, he refused to come down, even if he was threatened with death.

Tang Xiaoya regretfully shot him a glance before turning back around to satiate her hunger.

Her meal set had a large cup of fruity milk tea with coconut gel accompanied with a serving of waffles with strawberries and cream. Additionally, she had added on the roasted hot dog. Of course, these would be enough to fill her stomach.

The beautiful shop attendant was very thoughtful, having warmed the milk tea to a temperature that was perfect for her to consume. Tang Xiaoya sipped in a mouthful. Her first thought was that the temperature was just right. Her next observation was the flavor of the fruity milk tea which left her face shocked and her eyes wide open.

It tasted even better than the bubble tea shops who exclusively sold milk tea!

In a hurry, she grabbed the waffle from her plate and chomped down. Although the waffle did not have a freshly baked aroma wafting up, when Tang Xiaoya tasted it, she couldn’t help but close her eyes and savor the taste. Then, she munched on another large mouthful. The strawberry and cream combined with the crisp waffle tasted was simply too delicious.

“Yummy!” The 40 yuan was well spent. Tang Xiaoya picked up the cup and ferociously gulped. The fruity milk tea, along with the chewy coconut gel that she broke down between her teeth, was excellent! “With this skill, they didn’t need to open a cat cafe. If they relied solely on the tea and pastries, even my grandmother would become a regular customer!”

Other than the mass-produced sausage, the handmade foods were not average at all.

The hot dog was also completely finished by Tang Xiaoya. After she cleared away the foods and drink, she felt stuffed to the brim.

The customers who had been lured in by the kitties had all mostly left as it was almost noon, leaving two or three other customers in the cafe. They each settled in their own area, relaxing.

Tang Xiaoya watched as some people hurried out for lunch, while a few others ordered milk tea and other refreshments for takeout. Immediately, she reminded herself to follow their example later.

She used the restroom and then headed straight to the mattress and lied down. Behind her, a small, quaint garden that was surrounded by walls could be seen through the wide, floor to ceiling windows.

The rectangular garden was covered in artificial grass. On the left, two rows of cat grass were planted. Maybe it was because of the winter weather, but the cat grass was not thriving. The soft and tender sprouts that peeked out of the soil were pleasant to the eyes. On the right, a white table with round chairs was placed. The same type of glass used for the windows were also used for the ceiling, filtering the sunlight that dappled the ground. At the same time, the angle of the sun resulted in the sunlight shining upon Tang Xiaoya, making her feel a little drowsy.

Currently, it was the perfect time to nap. Few people were in the shop, the cats were basking comfortably, and the shop was less busy, letting the shop attendant work at a relaxed pace.

Tang Xiaoya watched as the shop attendant bussed the table, softly as to not disturb the peaceful atmosphere.

The service was wonderful… 

After eating and drinking her fill and with the warm winter sunlight shining on her, Tang Xiaoya became dizzy, her consciousness gradually drifting in and out. When her eyes had almost closed, something that seemed fluffy, had appeared next to her head. The lump joined her in basking in the sun, and it was not long before soft snores could be heard.

It was a cat… 

Tang Xiaoya reached out and it let her pet it obediently. She smiled and closed her eyes, falling into a slumber.

“Mom, a customer has fallen asleep. Could you take out the blanket from the cabinet?” The moment Lin Lan decided to place a mattress there, she had already predicted that someone would eventually have fallen asleep. If it wasn’t a customer, it would have been her instead, so she prepared a blanket in advance.

She brought over the blanket and covered the lady with it. Then, Lin Lan noticed that other than the sleeping person, there were several cat lumps lying on their stomachs in the sun.

“Miaow—” Sensing her presence, several kitties meowed at her. (Lan Lan, this is the most comfortable spot. It’s warm and cozy, and it’s quiet. Do you want to join us and bask in the sun?)

The warm sunlight shone down upon them, and the human heater who was asleep would not move. These little kitties always knew the best spot to stay cozy.

“There’s no need.” Lin Lan shook her head, amused. In a low voice she said, “Don’t make any large movements and don’t accidentally disturb her sleep, okay?”

The original purpose of her cat cafe was to let people relax and be at ease. There were few customers, so it was easier for her to attend to the shop.

Looking at the scene in front of her, Lin Lan pulled out her phone and took a picture. Once the lady woke up, she would ask the customer if she minded her keeping the photo. Later on, Lin Lan could make a wall dedicated to pictures of customers interacting with the kitties.

Lin Lan stowed her phone away. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Mrs. Yao’s table was being bussed, and she hurried over.

“I’ll take care of the rest, you should go eat and rest.” Lin Lan grabbed the items out of the other’s hand and urged him to leave before he could object. “After you’re done, we can switch so I can eat as well.”

The young man who wanted to ask if they could eat together could only bitterly leave while Lin Lan continued to clean the table.

Mrs. Yao was sitting at the table with her precious cat in her arms. Her state of mind had stabilized, and as she stared at the reluctantly departing Cheng Fengyang and then at the unaware Lin Lan, her eyes silently sparkled.

“Miss Lin.” Mrs. Yao spoke up at this moment, “My sudden appearance has made you busy. I should get going now.”

“Don’t leave so urgently, Mrs. Yao.” Lin Lan held her back: “In the afternoon, the kitties will be putting on a show. Do you need to leave now?”

Shocked, Mrs. Yao glanced down at her furry child nestling in her embrace. When did her Pudding become so talented?

As time gradually elapsed, the angle of the sunlight that shone through the garden changed. When Tang Xiaoya awoke from her noon nap, it was already one o’clock.

She sensed that her breathing was a little difficult. Her head, stomach, and torso were all heavy. In a daze, Tang Xiaoya opened her eyes and was startled by the cats who were lying on her body and around her.

She was only asleep for two hours, so how come there were cats growing out of her body!?

Not minding the cats who scattered after she opened her eyes, Tang Xiaoya sat up, confused. Her mind gradually cleared up, and she realized that on her first time falling asleep in a cat cafe, she had actually woken up with a thick and warm blanket.

They even covered customers with blankets while they were sleeping. This place definitely deserved an excellent review, no, they must be given a five star review!

She visited the restroom to freshen up. When she exited, Tang Xiaoya discovered that the customers visiting the cafe had once again increased. From several conversations she overheard, some of them were friends of customers who had visited in the morning.

“Xiaoya!” Looking everywhere around her, she finally noticed a woman who she was familiar with standing at the entrance.

She was a colleague from her workplace and one of her close friends, Wang Jiajia. With a smile, she spoke, “Jiajia! How come you are here?”

“I wonder who sent all those pictures of kitties to her Moments and lured me over here!” Wang Jiajia pretended to be resentful. “Someone ate alone and didn’t invite me to such a wonderful place.”

“What do you mean, I just found out about it today too!” Tang Xiaoya retorted. Immediately, she changed the subject, “Let me tell you, this shop is incredible! For an affordable price, you receive premium treatment. The refreshments are comparable to the small eateries we usually frequent, and most of the kitties are valuable breeds. Other than the cold Maine Coon cat, there is a Ragdoll cat and an Abyssinian cat, and the only common cats are the group of black kitties…” 

Before the two women could finish catching up, soft music began playing in the quiet cafe. Instinctively, the customers turned around to see what was happening, and unexpectedly saw the attendant maneuvering a mini fairy-tale style stage to the center.

The beautiful attendant clapped her hands to attract attention: “Thanks to everyone for visiting my cat cafe. I am the shop owner, Lin Lan.”

Tang Xiaoya’s smiling face froze in place. She had previously assumed that the attendant was hired staff, turns out she was actually the shop owner?

She envied her! Being able to play with all these kitties must be very fun!

Her inner thoughts drifted off while shop owner Lin was still speaking.

“To show my gratitude and to celebrate the official opening of my shop on New Year’s Day, the kitties will participate in a special performance. I hope that everyone enjoys the show!”

What? The cats are performing?

Customers who came in to relax and pet the kitties were surprised and had not fully comprehended her words when Lin Lan clapped her hands together and shouted: “Black Cat Army, assemble!”

As soon as she spoke, the six kitties who had been lazing around in different areas all rapidly gathered at Lin Lan’s feet.

The crowd gasped, amazed.

“Take your places.” Lin Lan issued her command and the black kitties all jumped onto the mini stage and orderly stepped on the complicated cat tower, forming a triangle with three rows. 

_{^{(T/N: Imagine a filled-in triangle with three rows; one cat at the top, two in the middle, three at the bottom. No clue if they’re standing on each other or on three separate rows of the cat tower, but it’s probably the second one.)}}

Most of the spectators had recovered from their surprise and revealed an immersed expression. Many of them reached for their phones and directed them at the stage, recording the scene.

They assumed that the black kitties’ act was the end of the performance. Afterwards, they realized that this was only the beginning.

The pretty shop owner continued to call out, this time, the various names of the kitties: “Jintan, Ashe, Silver, Sausage, Pudding, Mercury, Sapphire…” 

With each name, a kitty sprung on the stage, headed towards the edge of the stage. The adorable kitties of many different colors sat in a semicircle, and the black kitties behind them were situated in the center. Exactly half of the mini stage fit all the kitties.

The gentle song ceased, switching to a quick and lively tune.

It was unknown when the shop owner had obtained a tambourine, but she started to play it along to the beat.

The ten or so kitties meowed in unison: “Miaow! Miaow, miaow!”

Like humans singing along to music, the meows also lined up with the rhythm. With each pat of the tambourine, the kitties would follow, meowing.

After a moment, the beats of the tambourine increased to two, and the kitties danced along, lifting up their left paw, and then their right paw. They even stood on their hind legs, performing a cute and simple dance.

As the kitties danced and meowed, the cat slaves stared, entranced by each of the cats, whether they were graceful or looked silly.

Ever since the short, two minute performance ended and the kitties jumped down from the stage to follow the shop owner who was cleaning up, the buzzing spectators were still excited.

With just that performance, this cat cafe would skyrocket to fame in Xi City. No other cat cafe would be able to compete.

For the opening day promotion that the shop owner had briefly mentioned, all customers who were present would receive a coupon that granted a free visit for an entire day. However, this was disregarded by the entirety of the customers; they only wanted to see the performance again.

“If there are no irregularities, there will be one performance each week during the afternoon of the weekend.”

The shop owner had no choice but to divulge her plans to satisfy all the people pestering her.

After the performance, the customers saw each kitty in a new light. Even for the previously ignored black kitties most people avoided, they were now surrounded, each customer curious about the shop owner’s claim that all the cats sold meng.

In the end, the kitties were doing all this for canned food or treats, so they were given such!

Inside the cafe filled with excited customers, Mrs. Yao hugged her precious pet again with a amazed expression: “Miss Lin, how did you teach them? To my surprise, Pudding is also able to dance and sing along… you really are incredible.” Of course, she praised her furry child in her last sentence.

“It’s a business secret,” Lin Lan used her almighty line to respond. “Mrs. Yao, are you leaving soon?”

“Yup, if I don’t leave soon, my family will nag at me again.” Mrs. Yao was reluctant to leave, but if she did not, she would be screwed. Her phone had more than ten missed calls already, so she knew a bout of nagging was inevitable when she returned home. Well, she was used to it. “Pudding, Mom has to leave. Do what you’re told and be an obedient little kitty.”

“Miaow—” (Mom, come back another time!)

Surely, Lin Lan could not let a pregnant woman return home alone, so she called the phone of the fourth-floor tenant who was lazing around, Xu Xiangfei, to ask him to help escort her back. Only after he agreed did Lin Lan continue serving the customers.

Due to the kitties’ performance, another wave of new customers entered. Lin Lan had to prevent many customers from endlessly buying canned food. Instead, she asked them to use cat toys to play with the cats so they would run around and properly digest their food or to take pictures.

The new wave of customers kept her busy until five o’clock, which was the official closing time. With no choice, the customers begrudgingly left.

For the first day, she had earned quite a bit. However, she was more than exhausted.

“I thought that I could run this cat cafe by myself and that I would only require your help for the first two days due to my inexperience. Today, I realized that I was too naive.” At the counter, Lin Lan sighed as she talked to her parents, “I probably need to hire someone.”

“Why would you need to hire someone?!” Wang Xiuzhi was the first to disagree, demonstrating that she was not tired in the slightest, “Your Dad and I are right here to help. How busy could our small shop possibly be? One of us can go over there while the other stays here to help you!”

At first, they worried about not having enough business, so this situation was totally out of their expectations.

The Lin family were used to running their own small shop and had no intention of paying or hiring outsiders.

“How would that work? We would still need to hire workers, whether that be part-timers or full-time workers,” Lin Lan insisted. She could not let her parents get dragged into her own business. If they helped out for one or two days, it was not a huge deal, but if it were every day, it certainly would not work out. “This matter is non-negotiable, I’m making the final decision!”

The old Lin couple were not very compliant and wanted to argue further, but were driven away by Lin Lan: “Hurry up and go upstairs to start dinner. Even if you aren’t hungry, I am!”

As their daughter urged them to leave, the couple did not forget to call out to Cheng Fengyang: “Xiao Cheng, do you want to join us?”

“I can’t, Auntie and Uncle.” Cheng Fengyang shook his head, able to discern that their words were spoken out of politeness. If he agreed, he would be imposing: “It’s getting late, and I need to hurry home. My parents are also waiting for me to eat dinner.”

The Lin couple quickly left, leaving behind Lin Lan and Cheng Fengyang who were arranging the boxes of canned cat food and refreshments.

“Today’s business was pretty decent. Many customers were willing to spend money to buy cans of cat food.” Cheng Fengyang glanced at the numerous discarded boxes that were empty, speechless. Thinking for a moment, he decided that this was not out of the ordinary. Not only were most kitties of a famous breed, they were able to act cute and sell meng to customers. In the afternoon, they even gave a performance. A dog owner like himself was unable to resist, let alone the cat slaves.

“Today is a national holiday, so many office workers were able to come. On a weekday, the amount of customers will be significantly less.” Lin Lan smiled as she replied, “Thank you, Fengyang. You gave up your holiday to come here and help me out.”

“It’s nothing.” Cheng Fengyang waved his hand, “I was curious about how cat cafes operated, so I helped out on my own accord. After all, I personally designed this cafe myself!”

“No matter your reason, I still need to thank you properly.” With conscientiousness, Lin Lan replied, “Since you are averse to taking pay, I’ll treat you to a meal any time.”

Once the interior of the shop was installed, Lin Lan planned on fully reimbursing Cheng Fengyang for the design fee. She could not let someone work this much for free, but he refused over and over again by mentioning that they already agreed on the terms; he would not receive any pay. Now that her shop opened, he came over again to help… Lin Lan was absolutely mortified. 

The instant Lin Lan mentioned eating together, Cheng Fengyang’s eyes lit up: “Then how about we go to that street located behind us to eat kebabs together tomorrow evening? That one restaurant’s barbeque is delicious. I love their roasted lamb kebabs and their squid teppanyaki!”

“I also like that place, their lamb kebabs are truly yummy. Their sautéed chives and baked eggplants… Wait a minute, why are you picking this kind of place when I said that I’m treating?” Almost led astray by the mention of barbeque, Lin Lan glared at him resentfully. Was he looking down on a certain someone’s money… but she really did spend her money quickly, even resorting to exchanging the Xiangjia ^{_{(T/N: Chanel)}} overcoat for cash.

“What, I really did want to eat at the kebab buffet!” Cheng Fengyang replied with sincerity. “I won’t be the only one eating there. I was planning on taking home a few chicken wings for Star!”

Relying on satiating his hunger with kebabs, eating and ordering food for take out, other people paying the bill, this was ruthless enough, right?

Lin Lan started to laugh, this was very like Cheng Fengyang. Thinking back to the first time she saw him, he was sitting in his car, using a sausage to tease a golden retriever. It was easy for her to picture him teasing his border collie with a chicken leg at home.

After a while, the two eventually separated, and the cat cafe’s first day of business was officially over.

Lin Lan was under the impression that Cheng Fengyang would come find her on the afternoon of the second day to go eat kebabs, but in the morning, she received a phone call from him. A former client of his was seeking urgent help, and he had to go fulfill their request. Since it was official work, he had no way out. Lin Lan replied, saying that it was fine, and they could reschedule for another day. When she hung up, she felt a bit down for some reason.

A few months ago, she was also a diligent office worker. Once her boss or a client called, she had to crawl out of her bed and work. Those times seemed immeasurably distant.

“Miaowow—” (Lan Lan, are we hunting today too?)

A kitty was circling around her legs. The Persian cat who had become reliant on the attention of humans impatiently licked her mouth—or maybe she was impatient to obtain free food.

“Think about your own health, don’t eat too much.” Lin Lan could only try to advise her this way. Realizing that this cat was incredibly foolish, she decided to sell less canned cat food. “If you eat too much, I will force you to run in a wheel like a hamster.” She had already contacted a merchant for custom-made items.

Once the holiday passed, the bustling cat cafe finally returned to normal and her workload lightened. Like other cat cafes, the number of customers surged on the weekends while on weekdays, decreased.

Not concerned if the shop owner Lin Lan finally caught a break, Tang Xiaoya visited every time she was free. Lin Lan quickly familiarized herself with her preferences of refreshments as she frequently patronized her shop.

She had just finished greeting this customer, when an unusual combination of guests arrived: a mother-in-law, a daughter-in-law, and a child.

—A grandmother around the age of fifty, a married woman around the age of thirty, and an eight year old girl.

Lin Lan politely smiled and greeted them, leading the three people over to sanitize and then to a table. The little girl who wanted to escape from her mother and grandmother, ran over to hug a kitty, but was restrained.

At first, Tang Xiaoya, who sat behind them, took no heed, until they finished ordering food. She heard the grandmother speaking to her granddaughter when the shop owner left.

“Did you see her? If you don’t study hard everyday and play around, you will eventually become like her, only able to serve dishes to others.”

The old grandmother pointed out the shop owner as an example to teach her cat loving granddaughter a lesson.

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I got hungry and then sleepy translating the first part of this chapter :3 Boy did this ending get me mad.

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