Chapter 6: The Little Orange Cat
When Fu Sizhuo woke up, the blanket draped over him slipped down and landed on the orange cat lying at his feet.
The orange cat let out a soft “meow.”
Fu Sizhuo picked the blanket up and scratched the cat’s chin by way of apology.
“What’s your name?” He lifted the orange cat, gently rubbing its back, and asked in a low voice.
“Meow.” The little cat, comfortable under his touch, patted his knuckles with its paw in approval. Fu Sizhuo’s lips curved faintly.
When Shen Zhuying lifted the gauze curtain, this was exactly what she saw.
The man’s suit was rumpled, black hair falling untidily across his forehead. Beneath his high, straight nose, his slightly flushed lips curved into a smile, a dimple showing clearly.
Shen Zhuying’s heart skipped and quickened, shamelessly betraying her.
Damn it, this man had trapped her with that face for all these years!
She would not fall for it again!
The man seemed to notice her standing at the door. Tilting his head, he asked, “What’s this cat’s name?”
His voice carried a trace of weariness, lazy and low.
The kind of voice said to come with its own reverb.
Damn it, why did his voice have to sound this good, too!
Playboy demon!
Shen Zhuying muttered under her breath, then replied, “It’s called Zhu Zhu.”
“Zhu Zhu,” Fu Sizhuo praised. “The ‘zhu’ as in pearl? That’s a beautiful name.”
“No.” Shen Zhuying shook her head. “The ‘zhu’ as in pork.”
Fu Sizhuo choked on his words.
“Doesn’t sound nice?” Shen Zhuying frowned. “Zhu Zhu is very cute.”
“Mm.” Fu Sizhuo stared at the orange cat about to bristle, couldn’t help laughing, and agreed, “Zhu Zhu is very cute.”
Zhu Zhu is very cute.
Zhu Zhu (pearl) is very cute.
Shen Zhuying’s cheeks flushed again.
She quickly changed the subject. “Since you’re awake, you should go now. Our flower shop is already closed.”
Fu Sizhuo was a little surprised, he hadn’t expected to have slept that long.
He stood up, draping the blanket over his forearm as if it were the most natural thing. “I’ll wash the blanket and return it to you.”
“No need to trouble yourself.” Shen Zhuying, quick-handed, snatched the blanket back.
“This one just goes in the washing machine. Bought it on Pinduoduo[mfn]Pinduoduo is a Chinese online retailer, with a focus on the traditional agriculture industry. The business is the largest product of PDD Holdings that also owns the online marketplace Temu.[/mfn] for thirty yuan.”
If they kept passing it back and forth, it would never end.
When Shen Zhuying finally locked the shop door, holding Zhu Zhu in her arms and ready to leave, she turned her head, and saw Fu Sizhuo leaning against his car door, arms crossed, watching her quietly.
Startled, Shen Zhuying patted her chest lightly. “Why haven’t you left yet?”
“It’s too late,” Fu Sizhuo said.
“I’ll drive you.”
“I have a car.” Shen Zhuying pressed her remote. Her pink little e-scooter chirped cheerfully.
“No problem. You drive yours, I won’t get in the way.”
So the street presented this scene:
A girl slowly riding her pink little e-scooter down a plane tree-lined avenue. A flower basket was mounted on the front, with a little orange cat curled up inside, only its head poking out.
Behind her, a low-key black business car followed at an unhurried pace.
Someone recognized the model and license plate of the business car and exclaimed, “The domineering CEO is chasing after his little sweetheart again?”
Her companion retorted speechlessly: “Your top priority right now is to uninstall Tomato Novel.”
Fu Sizhuo watched as the girl’s scooter entered her neighborhood before finally turning his car around and leaving.
He went straight back to the old family residence, where Aunt Wang opened the door for him.
The moment Aunt Wang saw Fu Sizhuo take several large bouquets out from the back seat, her expression became rather indescribable.
“Young Master, is buying flowers very popular these days?” Aunt Wang asked.
Fu Sizhuo was puzzled. “What’s wrong? Has someone else bought them too?”
Aunt Wang rubbed her forehead at the sight of all the flowers. “Go inside and you’ll see.”
When Fu Sizhuo stepped in and saw the entire old residence overflowing with flowers, he was, for once, stunned. Very quickly he understood the reason, and could only laugh helplessly.
The next morning, after breakfast with his grandmother, he spoke with a touch of exasperation: “Grandma, please stop arranging blind dates for me. I’m not going.”
“As if you’re all that.” The old lady glanced at him arrogantly.
“Not going? The real issue is that the young ladies don’t fancy you.”
“You think I’m really doing this for you? I’m doing it for the young lady.” Old Madam Zhou praised on and on.
“Oh my, that girl is clever and pretty. I’ve already become close friends with her despite the age gap. Just looking at her a few more times every day adds years to my life.”
“As for you…” Old Madam Zhou said critically, “you’re just like your useless dead father, always gone half the year. I’m used to it by now. Just think of it as if I never had a son or raised a grandson.”
Fu Sizhuo was, of course, guilty at heart and left speechless under her scolding.
——
“No way, who would even like Fu Sizhuo!” In the face of Xiao Chun and Xiao Tao’s questions, Shen Zhuying refuted them a little too loudly.
Then she realized she hadn’t used sign language, so she repeated her heated denial in sign.
After a few seconds of silence, feeling a bit guilty, she added, “Why would you guys… cough cough… even think that?”
Xiao Chun signed. “Yesterday afternoon, while he was napping in the little room, you secretly turned your head to look at him many times.”
Shen Zhuying protested, “It wasn’t many times!”
Xiao Tao shook her head seriously and signed the number eighteen.
Shen Zhuying fell into despair.
Could it be that she was starting to like Fu Sizhuo all over again?
This was simply…
Shen Zhuying thought of that dangerously attractive face of his and felt like crying without tears.
It wasn’t impossible at all!
“But…” Xiao Tao signed, “Mr. Fu likes you too.”
“Impossible.” This time Shen Zhuying’s tone was much more certain. She fiddled with the crape myrtle blossoms in front of her, her voice soft.
“He couldn’t possibly like me.”
Sensing the girl’s dejection, Xiao Chun flusteredly handed her the note from yesterday. Shen Zhuying immediately recognized Fu Sizhuo’s handwriting.
His script was just as forceful and vigorous as it had been in high school, completely unchanged.
——“Are you a blind date or the boss’s husband?”
——“For now, neither.”
——“Do you ask every customer who comes here this question?”
——“Only you.”
Of course Shen Zhuying also noticed the words for now.
Her thought was: truly, being a diplomat is a very precise and rigorous profession.
Even when faced with the near zero, so close to zero it might as well be 0.00001% possibility that she might marry him in a few days, he still carefully refrained from outright denying it.
Shen Zhuying felt down the whole day.
It showed in the way her usual “Welcome” lacked its former energy.
Falling for Fu Sizhuo again was, for Shen Zhuying, absolutely terrifying.
She had spent eight years of her youth chasing after him again and again, until she had exhausted every ounce of strength.
And now, was she really going to fall for him all over again, just as she was trying to let go?
“Oh dear, young lady, why are you unhappy today?” The old lady sat across from her, face full of concern.
Shen Zhuying blinked in distress, but then her eyes gradually lit up.
She suddenly recalled one of her siren-like roommate’s mottos. “The quickest way to forget a man is to toy with another one.”
Toy with another man?
Shen Zhuying turned to the old lady and asked, “Grandma, that grandson of yours… is he really as good as you make him sound?”
