Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
When Pei Ge got home and saw the empty house, she could not help but feel disappointed.
“Not back yet, huh…” she mumbled. The disappointment on her face quickly disappeared, though.
Che!
“Two can play this disappearing-act game!” She declared as she walked up the stairs to her room.
Taking out her luggage in the corner, she grabbed her clothes from the closet and shoved them into it.
Once she was done with that, she put her toiletries into the waiting luggage as well.
Soon after, her luggage was filled to the brim.
Clap, clap, clap!
She clapped her hands in her good mood after she was done packing her stuff.
“Okay!” I can go home now!
She gripped her luggage and swept her eyes across the room where she had spent quite some time. She pursed her lips, a hint of reluctance fleeting in her eyes.
“Pudding, let’s go!”
Holding the luggage with one hand, she picked up the chubby cat with the other.
“Meow!”
“Pudding, let’s go home to see grandma!” She gently told the cat comfortably nestling in her arms.
With lighthearted steps and a better mood, she brought her things out of the bungalow she and the man had cohabited for a while.
Outside the place, she hailed a taxi and headed home.
“Miss, we are here.”
The taxi quickly arrived at her neighborhood.
“Thank you.” She paid the fare and began climbing the stairs with her luggage in one hand and her chubby cat in the other arm.
Because she usually took the elevator at work, the place she lived with the man only had one floor, and she had not climbed stairs for quite a while, she was panting by the time she got to the fourth floor.
Dong, dong, dong!
She set her luggage down and knocked on the door.
“Mom, I’m home.”
Immediately after she spoke, she saw the anti-theft door, which was tightly shut, opened from the inside.
“Ge Ge, why are you back so late?”
Zhang Manhua grumbled as she helped bring her stuff inside the apartment.
Looking at her mother whom she had not seen in a week, Pei Ge broke into a wide smile.
“Mom, I’ve missed you so much!”
“How old are you already, and you’re still acting spoiled the minute you got home—”
“Meow!”
Just as the two entered the apartment and started chatting, their conversation was interrupted by a cat’s purring.
Zhang Manhua’s eyes widened as she turned at the purr.
Only then did she realize that her daughter was carrying a furry, chubby cat!
Since she was not looking properly earlier, she did not notice the cat nestling in her daughter’s other arm.
“This… where did this cat come from?”
Pei Ge laughed when she saw how shocked her mother was. “Mom, look! Doesn’t this cat resemble our cat, Pudding, in the past?”
“Pudding…” The middle-aged woman froze.
She then assumed a somber expression and scrutinized the chubby cat in her daughter’s embrace.
“It indeed looks like our Pudding back then!”
“It’s not ‘looks like’; they are practically identical!” Pei Ge happily petted the cat in her embrace.
“Where did you get it?” Her mother’s palm reached out for the chubby fat.
“I picked it off the streets, so I brought it home,” she lied without batting an eyelid.
“This cat? You picked it off the streets?” Her mother clearly did not buy it. “Since when are ragdoll cats up for grabs on the street? Now, tell me the truth.”
“He he! I really can’t hide anything from mom, huh!” She laughed and spun a second lie.
“I bought Pudding from someone else. The owner sold it because they were leaving the country, and I bought it at a low price to accompany you.”
Not suspect anything from her daughter’s explanation, Zhang Manhua smiled happily.
“Come, Pudding, go cozy up with grandma. You’ll be staying with her in the future.”
Zhang Manhua could not help but reminiscence the older days as she took the chubby cat from her arms and cuddled it.
“Right, Ge Ge, why did you come back suddenly?” She expressed her curiosity once she sat down the couch in the living room with the cat now in her embrace.
“Mom, I was just about to tell you. I’ll be leaving the capital tomorrow. My superior transferred me to a branch company to intern, and I don’t know when I can come back.”
She repeated Father Ji’s words to her mother.
“I see… It means that your superior thinks highly of you. Just do your best to learn things there and not let your superior down.”
Zhang Manhua was not saddened to hear that her daughter was leaving. In fact, she was happy for her!
“En, I know, mom. I’ll do my best to get promoted and come back soon!” She hugged her mother’s arm, cozying up to her.
The mother and daughter chatted for a while longer before they returned to their rooms to sleep.
That night, Pei Ge lay in her small bed that she had not slept for quite some time and stared unseeingly at her phone.
“Ji Ziming, you annoying fellow, how many days has it been, and you still haven’t contacted me…” She pursed her lips and cursed the man under her breath.
“That’s fine. When you return and can’t find me, that’s on you. Hmph!”
She muttered indignantly as she stared at the black phone screen.
Before she could finish her muttering, her phone screen lit up.
As it lit up, so did her eyes.
“At least, you…” The light in her eyes dimmed again, and her words disappeared.
It was not from that annoying fellow…
Pursing her lips, she lifted the phone a little reluctantly and looked at the caller ID.
“Hello, Xiaoyu—”
“Ge Ge, there’s something I must tell you…” Her best friend’s voice resonated from the other end, and it seemed to carry a hint of anger this time.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, baffled by the anger she perceived on her best friend.
“Haven’t I told you about spotting your boyfriend in New York’s financial street?”
“Yeah. What’s wrong?” For some reason, her heart was in suspense.
Did… Xiaoyu see something, so she called…
“I saw him again today and with a woman at that!”
