Chapter 231

His head spun rapidly, and he finally recalled the person's identity.

"Hello, Mrs. Zhou, welcome to our store."

Ning Qing stood up, proactively reached out and lightly shook the boss's hand, and said in a gentle voice: "It's like this, my little son wants a show-quality Maine Coon; he's currently in M Country, so I've come to ask you about purchasing channels."

The boss reacted for a moment, then hurriedly said: "Sure, sure."

Ning Qing couldn't possibly not let the boss earn this money; she gestured to the attendant butler to go scan the payment code at the front desk.

"No need, no need, this is just a small matter, I——" He hadn't finished speaking when the payment sound echoed throughout the store.

The crisp sound of money going into the bag, as well as the subsequently announced payment amount, left both him and the clerk shocked.

He stood there dumbfounded, holding his phone; Ning Qing smiled and said: "Like this, I'll give your contact information to my little son, and you can talk to him then."

The boss came to his senses and quickly nodded.

The task completed, Ning Qing walked out of the store and exhaled a breath.

The butler chuckled: "Why bother making the trip yourself? I'll just come."

"Staying at home makes me feel awful; I'm always thinking about Xiao Wu, so I might as well go out for a walk." Ning Qing glanced at the nearby mall, her shoulders slumping—she, who loved shopping so much, now had no interest in it at all.

The butler followed behind her and made a gentle suggestion: "Recently, many brands have come to Sijiucheng to hold exhibitions; they've all sent you invitations. Would you like to grace them with your presence and take a look? If you don't go, other ladies probably won't either."

Ning Qing hesitated considerably; the butler emphasized the point, smiling: "It's said that many of these brands follow a youthful, fashionable style. Since you've seen Miss Wen Ling, why not go have a look, pick out a few nice pieces, and send them to Fifth Young Master? That way he can use them to curry favor with Miss Wen Ling."

As expected of the Zhou family's head butler, every word hit the mark with Ning Qing; she glanced back and gave him an appreciative look. The butler smiled faintly, feeling relieved inside.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yinhe obtained the pet store boss's contact information.

After adding him as a friend, he directly asked: 【Hello, could you please send me the channel contact information?】

The boss quickly sent it over; Zhou Yinhe didn't hesitate, directly called, chatted briefly, then hung up. The other party sent him many cat photos.

Zhou Yinhe examined each one closely, furrowing his brows tightly.

If the timing is correct, then now it's possible that Hehe hasn't even been born yet, and even Hehe's parents might not yet know they exist somewhere in the world.

Zhou Yinhe felt a bit downcast, leaning back on the lounge chair and sighing; his hand rested on the phone screen, tapping unconsciously. When he picked up his phone again, he realized he had entered the pet store boss's Moments.

Having entered, he propped his forehead and listlessly scrolled through the various dog and cat photos on the screen.

Cute pets can still lift one's mood a bit, so Zhou Yinhe continued scrolling down until he reached posts from several months ago.

He widened his eyes, slowly sat up, and stared in shock at the cat in the photo and that very familiar hand, as well as the small half-face revealed in the second photo.

【Today a super beautiful woman came to the store and took away the store's treasure, a show-quality Maine Coon. Indeed, those who like handsome cats are all beauties!】

This sentence isn't important; it's mostly boilerplate. What matters are these two photos.

Wen Ling is the person etched into his heart, the one he dreams of over and over in his dreams; how could he not recognize that the hand in the photo, that half-profile, are Wen Ling?

Zhou Yinhe looked at the date, and his whole body jolted violently.

So, Hehe existed long ago, possibly even before Hehe? After they broke up, Wen Ling returned to M Country and then came back again to purchase Hehe?

What on earth is going on?! Zhou Yinhe gasped heavily, his head throbbing as if it would burst.

Wen Ling, whom he endlessly yearned for, had just stepped out of the bathroom when she let out a violent sneeze.

She frowned slightly, gazing at the two cats in the nearby cat nest.

Hehe was already nearly a year old when she brought him home, while Hehe was only a few months old; Hehe, who should have been the older brother, became the younger sibling due to Hehe's arrival, yet he didn't mind at all—his clinginess toward Hehe had even surpassed hers.

Wen Ling walked over to the cat nest, squatted down, and gently laughed while rubbing their fluffy heads.

They were sleeping soundly; Wen Ling didn't want to disturb them, so she picked up her cigarette case, went to the balcony, closed the balcony door, stood by the window, and lit a cigarette for herself.

The balcony faced the villa's lake; at that moment, lights around it came on.

Wen Ling rested her forehead on her hand, lightly exhaled the smoke from her mouth, and her brows and eyes took on a hint of worry.

Zhou Yinhe's sudden arrival caught her off guard, forcing her to confront her own guilt and deep affection.

The breakup was her idea; for what reason, Wen Ling could no longer even recall—she only knew she had deeply hurt Zhou Yinhe.

Qin Yuchen told her that Zhou Yinhe had been hospitalized due to alcoholism; Wen Ling felt anguish to the point of fainting, yet hindered by that damned pride, she refused to lower herself to seek reconciliation with Zhou Yinhe.

Later she went to Hua Guo, hoping to sneak a glance at Zhou Yinhe, but the Zhou family guarded that area strictly; she never saw Zhou Yinhe, so she stayed a few extra days, hiding to the side and catching a glimpse when Zhou Yinhe was discharged.

After confirming his safety, she returned to M Country, and before leaving, she stopped by the pet store and brought back Hehe.

Wen Ling turned and leaned against the balcony railing, gazing through the transparent balcony door at the two sleeping cats in the cat nest, and sighed with a trembling voice.

She didn't know what to do.

The cigarette burned out; Wen Ling extinguished it, walked back to the bedroom, tossed and turned on the bed until dawn before finally falling asleep.

When she woke up, it was already 1 p. m.; Wen Ling was so hungry her stomach growled, Aunt Zhou was in Wen Garden, so Wen Ling had to go out alone to find food.

As she just stepped out of the villa, a person came running from the opposite direction, wearing sportswear and drenched in sweat.

That person stopped in front of her and, pretending to be casual, said "Hi."

Wen Ling couldn't deny that she had been startled by him; she stared blankly for a long while before asking, "How did you end up here?"

"Ah… running, exercising."

At this time, the temperature was at its peak; Wen Ling lifted her head to glance at the blazing sun overhead, then at his face, which had turned somewhat red from the sun, and she laughed in exasperation.

"You, at this time, at my doorstep, running, exercising?"

Zhou Yinhe coughed twice, a bit embarrassed as he bit his lip, then began spouting nonsense: "Here, the scenery is nice, and the sun is big—it can dispel dampness."

Quite the claim about dispelling dampness.

Wen Ling curled her lip, gave a cold laugh, and strode away.

Zhou Yinhe hurriedly caught up with her and, trying to ingratiate himself, asked: "Where are you headed? I'm not very familiar with this place, and I still haven't had lunch—could you take me along?"

"Not familiar?" Wen Ling glanced at him askance, enunciating each word: "Not familiar, yet you can run all the way to my doorstep?"