The light weight on his pants brought Qu Yanning back to his senses.
He bent down, picked up the cat, and gave it a kiss. Qu Yanning asked, “Got bored waiting outside?”
Xie Qi twitched his ears and kept rubbing against his cheek and chin.
Qu Yanning was tickled by the nuzzling but couldn’t bring himself to stop it.
He just held him and laughed, looking every bit like a doting father spoiling his son.
Chu Zhou, once again ignored on the side: …
After they’d had enough of the cuddling, Xie Qi cast a sly glance at Chu Zhou, who’d been reduced to background decoration, and smugly flicked his tail.
“I’ll make you the store’s lucky cat from now on,” Qu Yanning said, setting him down on the counter and tapping him on the forehead.
Xie Qi sat squatting on the counter, front paws neatly together in front of him, tail swaying back and forth behind. He looked every bit like a dependable cat.
*****
While browsing renovation info online, Qu Yanning still felt like it wasn’t quite real.
He’d searched for so long without finding a suitable shop, and now— just one trip out and he’d scored a huge bargain.
His heart was bubbling with joy, and he giggled foolishly as he buried his face in the cat’s fluffy belly, mumbling how happy he was.
Xie Qi, who had originally wanted to push him away with a paw, paused.
Then, acting like nothing happened, he retracted his paw and let him keep nuzzling.
But the swaying tail behind him gave away how he really felt.
After soaking up some cat time, Qu Yanning sat up again to look at his computer.
Now that the shop was secured, there was still some time before opening day.
He’d need to source ingredients, renovate, hire staff… all these little things added up, and it would take a while to get everything ready.
He didn’t have much money— every yuan had to be stretched— so he couldn’t afford an expensive renovation company.
After consulting several, he finally reached out to a local one.
Once they set a meeting time, Qu Yanning sprawled out on the couch with the cat in his arms and a tablet in his hand, browsing through the design proposals the company had sent.
Xie Qi lay sprawled on his chest, one paw pressing rhythmically on a little mole— it had become a habit ever since he discovered this “new land.” After a few failed attempts to get him to stop, Qu Yanning had just given up.
Per his request, all the proposals were budget-friendly, each under twenty thousand yuan.
The designs were simple: refurbish the walls and rearrange the dining area, kitchen, and cashier counter to make the most of the space.
“Sweetheart, which one should we pick?” Qu Yanning tilted his head just enough so his lips brushed against the cat’s ear.
Then he opened his mouth and gently bit the fluffy ear.
Xie Qi’s body froze. He shot upright and pressed a paw to Qu Yanning’s mouth, the bitten ear flicking back behind his head— and a moment later, twitching again despite himself.
Qu Yanning let his mouth be covered without a word, but his blinking eyes were filled with amusement.
He raised both hands in surrender, giving Xie Qi a pitiful look.
Always acting cute after doing something bad… Xie Qi sulked inwardly.
He flicked Qu Yanning with his tail in protest, but still let go of his mouth.
Qu Yanning chuckled, scooped him back into his arms, and pointed at a few pages on the tablet. “Sweetheart, pick one?”
Xie Qi nestled into the crook of his neck, eyes fixed on the tablet.
His cat face scrunched up immediately. He slapped the screen with his paw in disapproval. “Next one.”
Qu Yanning obediently flipped to the next page.
Xie Qi squinted—ugly.
Another page. Still unsatisfied. After flipping through all the plans the renovation company had sent, not a single one caught Xie Qi’s eye.
Qu Yanning didn’t mind at all. He rubbed the cat and praised, “Our sweet boy really has good taste.”
Xie Qi shot him a sideways glance and gave his tail a flick.
When it came time to meet with the renovation company’s designer, Qu Yanning didn’t pick any of the provided plans.
Instead, he scribbled out his own amateur layout on paper, and the renovation company would just be in charge of making it happen.
To save money, Qu Yanning even went to the building materials market himself, comparing prices from different vendors before settling on what to buy.
The renovation company thought he was a bit too stingy, but business is business, and they took the job anyway.
After a few hectic days running around, most of the remaining work fell to the renovation crew, and Qu Yanning could finally take a breather.
Chu Zhou had also been busy— recording videos, doing photo shoots, shipping orders— he’d been running in circles.
When both of them finally had time off, they decided on a whim to take a break and go on a seaside vacation.
Shenshi was a coastal city, dotted with vacation beaches large and small.
In weather like this, nothing brought more joy than the sea and fresh seafood.
So they packed up and left. By noon, the two had finished packing, rented a car, and took the cat along to head for Moon Island.
As the name suggested, Moon Island resembled a crescent moon when viewed from above.
The island was surrounded by sea on all sides and connected to the mainland by a single sea bridge.
The waters around it were a deep blue, making it a perfect summer getaway.
Thankfully, they chose a weekday to travel, so there were fewer tourists.
After nearly two hours on the road, they finally got off the highway, and the blue sea came into view in the distance.
Soothing music played in the car.
The windows were down, the A/C off, and the salty sea breeze rolled in, carrying a refreshing hint of summer.
Qu Yanning held the cat in the passenger seat, leaning on the window, wide-eyed as he marveled at the sea in the distance.
Every time a seabird soared across the waves, he’d exclaim and point it out to Xie Qi.
Xie Qi let out a lazy meow to show he saw it. Compared to places he’d been, this view was actually rather modest— but leaning against the warmth of the young man’s chest, he felt happier than he ever had before.
After passing the toll booth, they officially entered the road to the island.
A long sea bridge connected Moon Island to the mainland, stretching from one end to the other, flanked on both sides by endless blue water.
Qu Yanning was snapping photos nonstop, his smile never leaving his face.
The bridge was long— it took them a full half-hour to drive across before finally reaching the island.
The island itself was blanketed in dense greenery, with a paved road cutting through the center.
They followed that road upward.
They had booked a seaside hotel in advance.
It was on a high floor, with a view of the entire bay from the balcony at night.
Rumor had it, someone once heard a siren’s song from there.
After checking in at the lobby, the two carried their luggage upstairs. Xie Qi perched on Qu Yanning’s shoulder.
A girl in the elevator kept staring at him, trying to reach out and pet him, but Xie Qi’s cold glare quickly made her back off.
The elevator stopped on the twelfth floor.
As they rolled out their luggage, Qu Yanning stretched and rubbed his cheek against the cat on his shoulder. “We finally made it.”