I Can Talk to Cats C31

Chapter 31: Spoiled Brats

Translated by Lime

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“I wasn’t much help at all.” Cheng Fengyang forced a smile and told the truth: “Even if I didn’t help you there, you still would have been able to handle it.”

He felt happy and powerless at the same time. The girl he liked was not a pushover but that also meant he wasn’t strong enough to protect her himself.

“You were a great help!” Lin Lan countered, “If you didn’t remind me today, I would have completely forgotten to ask him to reimburse me.”

Her motive for opening her cat cafe wasn’t to earn money. As long as she didn’t lose money, it could be considered a success. Therefore, she wasn’t very demanding and was quite carefree in conducting business which would eventually lead to small problems.

By relying on her ability to speak with kitties, Lin Lan was able to avoid many of the troubles most people had with cats. However, that didn’t mean everything was perfect. As more and more kitties were trained and worked at her cafe, more and more issues would arise. When she was almost linked to a murder case because she returned a wallet, Lin Lan took the proper precautions.

But taking precautions didn’t necessarily mean that she would be able to react in time, even if she didn’t panic at all.

Cheng Fengyang was able to react quickly and blocked her from the onslaught of people. His quick response gave her enough time to settle the situation calmly. Lin Lan understood this and was thankful.

Thinking this way, Lin Lan smiled, “Cheng Fengyang, thank you. I’m very lucky to have met you!”

Although the incident with the wallet scared her, she still felt fortunate to have met Cheng Fengyang.

On another note, only treating him to kebabs was shameless, maybe it was best to find a formal restaurant…

“No, no! Let’s go eat kebabs after all!” Cheng Fengyang was still daydreaming about Lin Lan’s beautiful smile before he realized what she meant: “I love kebabs! Just make sure to fill up the table completely so I can simply open up my stomach and absorb everything!”

On the surface, he simply made a joke, but he had taken into account that a formal restaurant’s atmosphere was stiff and reserved, not nearly as intimate as casually eating kebabs together. Interior Designer Cheng had lived for more than twenty years and his romantic side had just been awakened.

He must really love to eat kebabs… Seeing him insisting on eating kebabs, Lin Lan vowed to treat him well. It would be unacceptable if the Boss of the kebab stand didn’t treat him like his own family!

Lin Lan and Cheng Fengyang continued to chat behind the counter while outside the cafe, Cao Yuze dragged out an unwilling Wang Jiayi.

“What are you doing? Brother Yuze, you’re hurting me!” Wang Jiayi complained.

Cao Yuze immediately let go of her. Wang Jiayi began to rub her wrist which was faintly red. He held in his annoyance, helpless towards her whining.

“Jiayi, how come you’re here?” Cao Yuze lowered his voice and asked, “Aren’t you supposed to be obediently staying at home until the holidays?” If not, she was usually out shopping with her close friends. Usually, people like her wouldn’t even glance at areas like this in the “village” of the city.

“Why are you being so nosy!” Wang Jiayi felt wronged and the rims of her eyes reddened, “I even helped you find your cat from the goodness of my heart. The very first thing I did was to call you! Why are you talking to me this way? In the future, I’ll just ignore you!”

She really had the temper of a primary _{^{(T/N: elementary/grade)}} school student.

Cao Yuze helplessly asked again, “Did you fight with your parents again? I’m guessing you don’t have much money left and came here to play?”

“Of course I still have money!” Wang Jiayi snapped back. Realizing she was in the presence of a friend, the pitch of her voice lowered: “This time, it was my Dad who was too overboard… So, if he doesn’t admit his wrongdoing, I won’t go back!”

In the past month, Cao Yuze was preoccupied with finding his cat and had not paid much attention to disputes between other families. But as her childhood friend, Cao Yuze understood Wang Jiayi’s circumstances. When they were little, she became seriously ill after she fell into a lake and as a result, her body became very weak. She was pampered and spoiled all the way from childhood. It wasn’t until she became an adult did her body get better.

Due to her weak constitution, her family excessively doted on her. At school, both teachers and students alike would let her have her way, not wanting to trouble a delicate and weak girl. In this way, Wang Jiayi became naive and self-centered, and still acted like a little child when she was actually an adult.

She didn’t have bad intentions though. If she was harshly reprimanded, she would restrain herself. However, it was impossible for a self-centered person to completely change for the better all at once. Occasionally, her headstrong and willful side would come out, and her irrational behavior like earlier really induced headaches. Without asking the owner for permission, she had directly pulled over Cao Yuze to the cat and even wanted to argue with the employees. Cao Yuze had been stunned into silence.

He was lucky they didn’t take it to heart.

This wasn’t the main concern though.

“What did Mr. Wang do wrong this time?” Cao Yuze pitied the Wang elders for having raised a childish and spoiled daughter. Everytime, Wang Jiayi kicked up a fuss and everytime, the elders had to apologize to her and dote on her.

Honestly, he was a little… no, he wasn’t jealous at all. It was quite shameful to be as childish as she was at her age.

Wang Jiayi was completely unaware of Cao Yuze’s inner thoughts and started ranting, “Brother Yuze, my Dad is too much! I graduated from college this year and he wants me to attend a closed-type graduate school to continue my studies. He stopped giving me allowance and even said that I need to suffer in order to teach me a lesson! Is this something a Dad should do to his daughter?! I didn’t even do anything for him to be this harsh towards me! Even worse, everyone at home supports him as well. I’ve already asked about the school before; apparently everyone is required to do their own laundry! Every day, it’s like military training. They have to get up at a certain time to train drills and they have to eat at the dining hall which has tasteless food. It’s exactly the same as being imprisoned! I’m never going!”

^{_{(T/N: Apparently there’s a type of school called a closed-type school. Basically, the campus has everything for daily life and students aren’t allowed to leave as they wish. Term if you’re curious: “封闭式大学”)}}

During his years attending college, Cao Yuze who indeed did do his own laundry, but never cooked his own meals: “…” Looks like Mr. Wang came around and realized the severity of his daughter’s character.

“Anyways, if they don’t apologize, I will never go back!” Wang Jiayi was extremely angry. Suddenly, she faced Cao Yuze: “Brother Yuze, you’re not allowed to tell my family my location. Otherwise, otherwise…”

She was searching for a way to threaten him, but concluded that she really didn’t have anything to threaten Cao Yuze with. Her eyes fluttered around before resting on the cat bag he was holding.

“Otherwise, I will take your Weiwei away, and ask Boss Lin to train her until she only likes me and not you!”

“…”

Although the threat was silly, Cao Yuze was scarred from the past month and gripped the cat bag tighter. He felt an incoming headache. Before, he could ignore the fact that this spoiled brat who did not know the struggle ordinary people faced was living in the “village of the city”. But now, he was almost obligated to help her because she found his cat.

“Fine, I won’t tell them,” Cao Yuze helplessly told her. “You have to promise me that you won’t run off randomly and stay in your apartment…”

“I usually stay at the cat cafe!” Pointing behind them, Wang Jiayi enthusiastically shared, “You saw the conditions Boss Lin requires for a cat to be sold right? I really like the Persian Chinchilla cat and I absolutely want it! But Boss Lin told me without the kitty’s approval, I won’t be allowed to buy her. So right now, I’m working hard to take care of her and I spend all my time with her! The apartment I’m living in right now is right above the cafe, and it is also owned by Boss Lin’s family. Don’t worry about my safety, I’m not that stupid either. Why would I run off?!”

That’s right, naivety was not the same as true foolishness.

Cao Yuze was a bit surprised when he learned that Boss Lin’s family owned the apartment building. Now thinking back to her nonchalant attitude, he understood why.

She was unafraid of not earning money so she set such odd requirements for buying one of her cats. She possessed the ability to train cats extremely well, so if her intentions were to profit, she would definitely not set this rule.

Cao Yuze’s heart skipped a beat and had the thought of wanting to increase business for her, before he immediately rejected the idea.

There were only two weeks until the New Year. After the holidays, he would revisit this thought.

“Remember what you say then.” Cao Yuze hoisted the cat bag up and cradled it. Looking at Wang Jiayi, he spoke, “When we were little, you were never allowed to go out because of your health. This time, you’re going to be living on your own for a long time. Make sure to pay attention to your surroundings at all times and be careful. Boss Lin is a good person and if you interact with her more, you won’t be losing out.”

“Brother Yuze, you’re so slow, hurry up and bring your Weiwei home.” Wang Jiayi hated to listen to these kinds of nonsensical lectures. She had heard these reminders so much that calluses formed on her ears. “I’m an adult! I know how to take care of myself!”

If you know how to take care of yourself, why did you escape from home because of a fight?

Cao Yuze silently chuckled but stopped speaking. He bid her goodbye and returned to his car.

Wang Jiayi watched as he drove away and turned to leave, cheerfully returning to the cafe. She was in a great mood after helping her good friend retrieve his cat while keeping her location a secret so her family couldn’t catch her and force her to go to school.

In the car, Cao Yuze immediately phoned the Wang family’s phone number.

“Am I speaking to Mrs. Wang? … Good afternoon, I’m Cao Yuze… I found where Jiayi is staying at… She’s doing quite well and playing with cats at a cat cafe. She’s throwing a temper tantrum again and refuses to return home… No, she’s located in Xi City, but I promised to not tell you her exact location. The only message she wanted me to pass on was that she’s living pretty well… I think you should take the matter with her schooling slowly. Right now, she’s learning how to take care of cats. Maybe, her changing attitude might give you guys a big surprise the next time you meet… Yeah, yeah, don’t worry too much. Even if you didn’t ask me, I would take care of her. After all, Jiayi is someone who I grew up with.”

Cao Yuze sighed after hanging up.

He turned his head to glance at the cat bag secured in place by the safety belt. Inside, the silver American Shorthair kitty was obediently sitting, her lovely eyes staring out the window at the scenery. Cao Yuze’s heavy mood was instantly relieved.

“In a moment, we will be going to our new home. Weiwei, we’ll be living there in the future.”

At 5 P.M., the cat cafe punctually closed. Lin Lan cleaned up and sorted through inventory, ignoring the complaints of some customers who wanted them to stay open until seven or eight.

After all the customers left, Cheng Fengyang also left, saying that he wanted to change his clothes. Lin Lan scooped up the Ragdoll kitty who ran towards her and exclaimed: “Comrades, how about we cancel the weekly kitty performance? There are so many customers, I’m tired!”

At the moment, Lin Lan was the only one preparing the refreshments and pastries. Xiao Song learned how to make them, but for some reason, the ones he prepared didn’t taste as good as Lin Lan’s. Picky customers who came for the food, not the cats, would probably complain. Lin Lan was bitter about this fact but also proud.

However, there were simply too many customers on the weekends. She didn’t want to faint from all the work!

When she wished to escape working for a corporate company and imagined spending her days idly running a cat cafe like her parents, she didn’t expect for the cafe work to be this demanding.

“Don’t! You’re going to lose customers!” Tang Xiaoya countered her in fear of losing her weekly place of comfort: “Boss, you opened this cafe to do business. Bosses who don’t want to make money aren’t a good sh*t shoveler! The more money you make, the more cat food and treats you can buy for the kitties!”

Lin Lan contemplated the amount of business she received today and fell into deep thought.

Song Xinming didn’t have any complaints. The workload only increased one day per week and he was completely willing to power through it. On the other hand, the Boss wished to spend her days with less worries. Either way, he was a temporary worker that didn’t have an opinion and his salary wouldn’t be affected.

“Then, I’ll change the performance to once every two weeks.” Lin Lan understood that Tang Xiaoya’s argument did have some reason. The maintenance costs of the kitties would be a potential problem. After making her decision, Lin Lan stared at Tang Xiaoya: “Isn’t it common for white-collar workers to be busier before the holidays? How come you still have time to come help out each weekend?”

Hearing this question, Tang Xiaoya’s face paled: “I have to work six days a week and only get one day of rest. If this damned company dares to force me to work overtime so I get vacation time, this old woman will immediately resign!” At the end, her voice became threatening.

There was a silence in the cafe before Lin Lan spoke again, “Sigh, your relationship with Mercury is getting better and better. Perhaps, if you put in a lot of effort in a concentrated period of time, you might be able to bring him home. Are you positive that you want to move here?”

“Of course! On Wednesday of next week, my rental agreement expires. I’ll be able to move here very soon!” Tang Xiaoya’s eyes lit up at the mention of her beloved Mercury. “If nothing unexpected happens, I will probably get a small promotion next year and my salary will go up a bit. When I move here, I will buy a huge amount of cat food for Mercury!” Maine Coon cats had a large appetite. How would she be able to raise him if she didn’t earn more money?

This was true love.

Song Xinmin and Lin Lan held this thought in their minds. Recalling her willingness to work two jobs, Song Xinmin sighed.

As the three people chatted, the front door opened.

Song Xinmin called out: “Sorry, we’re closed for the day.”

“I’m here to find Lin Lan.” The person who walked in was fourth floor’s Qian Xuan. She seemed utterly exhausted, only forcing a smile when she saw Lin Lan.

“What happened? You look kind of tired.” Lin Lan hurried over.

“Don’t mention it. What could it be other than working overtime?” Qian Xuan donned the shoe covers and plopped down on a cushion. She was so tired that she neglected her posture. “Every year it’s like this, for the sole purpose of receiving vacation time. Coworkers who aren’t working from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. six days a week are working from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. seven days a week. I fall in the latter category. For the sake of exchanging my sole day of rest for vacation time, I have to work everyday of the week.”

^{_{(T/N: “公司里不是956就是957，我就是957那一挂，一周无休用加班换调休。” Honestly I can’t comprehend what she means by the numbers, which has something to do with her company. Update: Two kind commenters have pointed out that the numbers mean that she’s working 9AM-5PM 7 days a week. Thank you!)}}

How miserable. Lin Lan and Tang Xiaoya both offered their sympathy.

“Anyways, I have something to ask you.” Qian Xuan carelessly waved her hand. “My company asked me to go on a business trip to the headquarters Shanghai for their annual meeting. I’ll be gone for three days and I have no way to bring Niuniu with me. Can I leave her with you?”

The author has something to say:

Silver likes to call people slaves, Niuniu also likes to call people slaves. Miss Wang is also extremely pampered.

These three summarize today’s chapters.

(T/N: Title of this chapter is ‘spoiled brats’)

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I need to stop trying to set a release schedule when I can’t follow it ;-; Sorry for the wait, hope everyone enjoyed these two chapters.

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