Su Li couldn’t tell if it was just her imagination, but she seemed to sense the faintly resentful gaze Miss Cat was casting her way.
It was as if she were some kind of heartless woman.
Well, right now, perhaps that was exactly what she should be called.
“Can I pet these cats?” Miss Cat asked, and Su Li nodded without refusing.
She watched as Miss Cat carefully made her way over and sat down on the sofa.
“Meow~” Miss Cat let out a sound much like a cat’s mewl, and Su Li found it strangely familiar.
But maybe it was just her imagination; after all, cats all over the world probably sounded like this.
She didn’t dwell on it, instead sitting down not far away, wanting to rest for a bit.
Since it was Miss Cat who came to do The Cleaner’s work, she still wanted to help her out.
After all, it was getting late, and Miss Cat had probably been working all day, still pushing herself into the night.
“Meow.”
“Meow.”
Cat-like sounds continued to drift by Su Li’s ears as she squinted toward Miss Cat and the stray cats she’d brought home, not knowing when they’d grown so close.
And Miss Cat seemed to be their big sister, their leader.
Even Big Thunder rubbed up to Miss Cat in an affectionate way.
Su Li had come first, but somehow the cats seemed to get along better with Miss Cat.
She couldn’t help but recall the cats she’d kept before.
Cats had a bit of a proud, haughty streak.
But in front of other cats, they could be like the boss of the group.
“Oh dear, I’ve been so busy playing with the other kitties, I almost forgot I’m here to work.”
Miss Cat suddenly seemed to remember something and stood up quickly, apologizing to Su Li.
“It’s all right.”
“I’ve already told them to stay put on the sofa and not move. Now I need to start cleaning.” Miss Cat said confidently.
Su Li looked at Miss Cat, then at the cats sitting on the sofa, uncertain whether Miss Cat had really communicated with this crowd of cats as she claimed.
She already felt a bit weary.
But to help Miss Cat finish her work early, she still wanted to lend a hand.
If she had to say why she felt this way, Su Li thought maybe she just wanted to help her past self a little.
When Su Li tried to get up and help, Miss Cat quickly shook her head and waved her hands, saying, “No, no. You’ve already paid me, there’s no need for you to help.”
“Just leave it to me. You look tired; just get some good rest over there.”
She actually felt a bit embarrassed—after all, tonight’s cleaning order price was quite high.
If it hadn’t been for the staff member who took the order having something come up, she wouldn’t have had a chance to come clean this place.
When she saw it was Su Li, she wanted to give her a discount.
She planned to secretly transfer some of the money back to Su Li after closing out the order.
After all, Su Li had just said she was renting a place here.
From what Miss Cat knew, renting a place here wasn’t cheap.
And Miss Cat also knew how hard it was to make money working odd jobs.
Her own job provided food and lodging, so she could help ease Su Li’s burden a little.
They really ought to be good friends!
Su Li had helped her before, and even treated her to some delicious cat food!
“It’s fine. If we finish cleaning the room sooner, you can get home and rest earlier too.”
“And besides, it’s already late,” Su Li said calmly.
She really didn’t mind helping tidy up the place a bit.
Even if the Auntie Cleaner who came wasn’t Miss Cat, she’d have chosen to help and finish the cleaning sooner, so she could rest early too.
“Then, you just do some of the easier chores. Leave the rest to me.”
“I’m pretty good at this, you know.”
Miss Cat said this seriously, glancing again at the chaos in the room.
She didn’t think all this mess was caused by Su Li—Su Li always carried a lovely fragrance.
She couldn’t possibly be so sloppy.
Maybe there was some other reason.
Looking at the messy floor, Miss Cat suddenly felt a strange ache and sadness.
She’d been having a recurring dream lately—a dream where she became a cat.
And every day she would watch her owner scurry about, working so hard.
The owner was a very tidy person. Their home wasn’t big, but it was always warm and cozy.
But every so often, some troublemakers would show up and mess up the house.
Then she’d have to watch her owner clean up the room little by little after a long day’s work, unable to help at all.
The feeling Su Li gave off, her very presence, reminded Miss Cat of her owner in the dream.
Her owner was a handsome young man, while Su Li was a cute young woman.
But their scents were strikingly similar.
Seeing the paint splattered all over the floor, Miss Cat instinctively thought of those dreams.
She looked over at Su Li, who had somehow fallen asleep on the sofa, and draped a blanket over her.
Then, making a shushing gesture to the other cats, she started quietly cleaning up the room.
In fact, she had learned a lot of things by secretly observing her owner in her dreams, like working part-time and finding jobs.
When she’d wandered homeless with her owner, he’d always carry a backpack and take her all over the world.
Watching her owner so much, she’d picked up a lot.
Miss Cat started by using old newspapers to absorb the wet paint on the floor, then used a hot towel to soften any hardened paint, and carefully scraped it away with a small scraper.
Next, she skillfully cleaned different areas, squatting to scrub stubborn stains between the floorboards with a little toothbrush, and finally mopping the floor three times with clean water, until the smell of paint was replaced with a faint lemon fragrance.
Her movements were incredibly gentle—even while cleaning, her footsteps were so light that she barely made a sound.
After making the living room spotlessly clean, Miss Cat glanced over at the Trash Can beside her, where there were discarded clothes covered in paint.
They were women’s clothes!
Back at “their” home, the Trash Can often held clothes like this.
Miss Cat looked at Su Li, feeling that she was really a lot like her owner in the dream.
Both were such hardworking people!
So Miss Cat simply sat quietly on the sofa, played with the cats for a while, and didn’t try to wake Su Li up.