Chapter 49

The girl seemed genuinely surprised that her cat had become so well-behaved.

The person filming couldn't help but say, "Isn't it good that it's become well-behaved?"

The girl said, "It's good that it's become well-behaved, but it wasn't like this before. It used to hate it when people touched it. If you touched it, it would scratch you... It looked awful. All these marks on my hands are from when it used to scratch me. But now when I touch it, it even shows its white belly to me! This is really abnormal!"

The girl was likely prone to scarring. Xu Gui glanced at her hand and indeed saw many white marks left after the wounds healed on the back of her hand.

The person filming asked curiously, "This cat is scratching you so much, haven't you ever thought about getting rid of it?"

Upon hearing this, the girl replied matter-of-factly, "Even if it scratches me, it's still my Baojuan. I love it so much, and since I raised it, I should be responsible for it. Besides, it's mainly because I'm always provoking it; otherwise, it would be very well-behaved and wouldn't scratch me."

The girl looked embarrassed.

Anyone who owns a pet knows that sometimes people are just cheeky; even knowing what their pet doesn't like, they still love to tease it.

Follower: ...Ah, sorry to bother you, it turns out it's a two-way trip.

After laughing, the girl sighed and said with concern, "Although it's very well-behaved now, I'm just worried that something is wrong with its health... I took it to the vet, but the doctor said it's very healthy."

Since the kitten was healthy, she wasn't too worried. However, she happened to see Xu Gui's live stream, and since she was in City A, she made the trip.

"I just wanted you to tell me, Master, whether my kitten is possessed by an evil spirit, just to put my mind at ease," she said shyly.

After listening, Xu Gui asked, "...Did your cat run away before?"

"Yes." The girl nodded and said, "I didn't expect you to be able to figure this out, Master. My cat did run away once before."

That happened two months ago.

As a cat owner, the girl was very responsible. She sealed all the windows in her house, so the kitten shouldn't have been able to escape. However, her kitten was just too good at playing hide-and-seek. One day, when the girl opened the door to go out, it slipped out through the crack in the door.

"I didn't even notice at the time. I only found out she ran out after I got home from get off work and checked the security camera footage." She had been looking for her cat at home for a long time.

The girl naturally wanted to find her lost cat, but she couldn't find it for a long time. Then one month later, she suddenly saw her cat downstairs.

Her cat has come back!

The girl said with a proud look on her face, "My Baojuan is so capable! She actually found it herself! She's such a wonderful little cat." And the cat that came back was healthy, except for being a little thin, which made it even better.

The only problem is that he's become too obedient, which makes her feel uncomfortable.

"Maybe she was bullied by other cats when she was a stray," the girl guessed, her face showing heartache. "That's why Baojuan has become so well-behaved."

Looking at her distressed expression, Xu Gui rubbed his forehead and said, "...Have you ever considered the possibility that the cat you found isn't actually yours?"

The girl paused for a moment, then shook her head and said, "That's impossible!"

She said confidently, "It looks exactly like my Baojuan, and it responds when I call it Baojuan. It can't possibly be Baojuan!"

Xu Gui suggested, "Why don't you go back and ask it?"

girl:"……"

The girl left in a hurry, and her retreating figure suggested a sense of panic.

Xu Gui looked at the five hundred yuan she had received, stretched, and prepared to pack up and go eat—that was her last customer.

However, she had only finished half of her business when a figure hurriedly came up to her. When Xu Gui looked up, she saw Fu Xia looking at her with teary eyes and a face full of grievance.

Xu Gui: ?

Fu Xia said, "Xu Gui, you're right, he really is a primary school student... Waaah!" As she spoke, she couldn't hold back her grievances and burst into tears.

Xu Gui was startled. Having rarely seen a human cry, she was so frightened that she stood frozen in place, completely at a loss for what to do.

"What, what should I do?" She looked frantically at the cameraman beside her.

The person filming secretly rejoiced that they had turned off the live stream in time; otherwise, with Teacher Fu crying her eyes out, people who didn't know the situation might have thought that Teacher Xu had bullied her, and Teacher Xu would have been unable to explain herself no matter what.

Seeing that people around them kept looking at Fu Xia and taking pictures of her, they said, "I remember there's a park nearby, Teacher Xu, why don't you take Teacher Fu there to rest for a bit?"

Hearing him say that, Xu Gui felt as if he had been granted a pardon and hurriedly pulled Fu Xia to the park next door.

At this time of day, it was hot, and the park was indeed very quiet, with hardly anyone in sight. Xu Gui pulled Fu Xia to sit down on a park bench.

At this moment, Xu Gui also calmed down. She took out a tissue from her bag and handed it to Fu Xia so that she could wipe her tears and snot. Then she asked, "So, you went to confess to him?"

She spoke with a question, but her tone was very certain; otherwise, Fu Xia wouldn't be crying like this now.

Fu Xia: QAQ.

"...Do you know what he said to me when I confessed my feelings?" Fu Xia's expression turned to one of despair as she spoke, and she said through gritted teeth, "He said, 'Auntie, my mom doesn't allow me to date so early!'"

Whether it was the word "aunt" or the word "puppy love," the impact on Fu Xia was like a tsunami, leaving her completely stunned.

...

Let's go back two hours.

It's the weekend, and the "boy" that Fu Xia likes doesn't seem to be "working." He came to Fu Xia's cake shop to buy bread at 9:30. Usually, he comes in the evening.

He was still greeted by Fu Xia—this was something Fu Xia had worked hard to secure, and the other employees in the cake shop all knew she had feelings for the boy and were happy to oblige her.

As usual, Fu Xia blushed as she paid his bill, her eyes filled with a hesitant, shy gaze.

Unfortunately, the other party didn't seem to sense Fu Xia's blatant affection and left after buying the bread.

"Actually, I hesitated for a moment..." Fu Xia said, sobbing.

However, she's a hopeless romantic, and when love takes over, she loses all rationality. So by the time she came to her senses, she was already standing in front of the other person, who was looking at her with a puzzled expression.

In a moment of impulsiveness, Fu Xia confessed her feelings to him.

"I...I like you!" she confessed, her face flushed, having completely forgotten what Xu Gui had said.

After she finished speaking, she saw the "young man" in front of her looking at her with a shocked expression, or rather, a bewildered expression, confused and lost. Then, he said the same thing that Fu Xia had said to Xu Gui.

“But, Auntie, my mom doesn’t allow me to date early,” he said.

At that moment, Fu Xia didn't know whether to feel sad for her lost love or devastated by the other person's address of "Auntie." Perhaps her expression was too foolish, because the child looked at her pitifully and said:

"Auntie, I'm sorry, I'm still too young to date you... But we can exchange contact information first, and I'll date you when I'm an adult."

Then, amidst Fu Xia's distraught and frozen expression, he raised his hand, revealing his Little Genius children's watch.

...

"He's wearing a Little Genius children's smartwatch!"

As Fu Xia spoke of these things, she gripped Xu Gui's hand tightly, her expression a mixture of despair and embarrassment: "Do you know how I felt at that time?"

What's even more embarrassing is that there were other people around at the time, and even a production crew with cameras following her. In other words, not only did passersby see what just happened, but all the viewers in her live stream also saw it.

Fu Xia felt she would never forget the way those people looked at her. At that moment, she didn't even bother to exchange contact information with the child; she simply covered her face and ran away.

Fu Xia held her head and muttered, "It's so embarrassing, so incredibly embarrassing. I've never been so humiliated in my entire life..."

The photographer, sitting to the side, couldn't help but look at her with pity. Although he hadn't witnessed the scene, just thinking about it made him want to dig his toes into the ground. How embarrassed Fu Xia, the person involved, must have been.

Therefore, rather than saying that Fu Xia cried because she was rejected, it would be more accurate to say that she cried because she was too embarrassed.

While filming, I noticed something and looked around: "Teacher Fu, where's your filming?"

Fu Xia wiped away her tears and said, "I don't know, I just got in the car and drove off."

Follower: ...That means the follower was left standing there.

Xu Gui reached out and patted her, comforting her, "It's okay, a human's life passes by very quickly."

Fortunately, Fu Xia wasn't a Xuan Turtle. If it were a Xuan Turtle, which could live for thousands or tens of thousands of years, she would remember her embarrassment for ten thousand years... Xu Gui realized for the first time that being human was actually quite nice.

Fu Xia said regretfully, "I should have believed you. You said he was a sixth-grade student, why didn't I believe you? Actually, I should have thought of it sooner. How could a boy with such a clean-cut demeanor be an adult?"

Ultimately, it was her love-struck mind that was at play; once emotions took over, all reason vanished.

Just then, the person filming nearby suddenly hesitated and said, "Ah, Teacher Fu, you..."

Fu Xia looked up, her eyes blurry with tears: "What's wrong?"

The person filming held up their phone and said, "You're trending."

Fu Xia: ? ?

As it turns out, there's no limit to how incredibly stupid people can be. Fu Xia thought that being seen confessing her feelings to an elementary school student by her viewers in her live stream was already incredibly stupid enough, but she didn't expect that what would be even more stupid was that the incident would become a trending topic.

Seeing her pale face, Xu Guizhen was afraid that she might faint from grief, so she quickly comforted her, "It's okay, human lifespan is very short, just bear with it and it will pass."

Fu Xia: "..."

She closed her eyes, watching the netizens laughing and enjoying the spectacle under the trending topic. She could only console herself that at least she was trending because it was funny, not because of torture.

Thinking about it this way, she finally felt much better.

"Come on! I'll treat you to dinner!" she said through gritted teeth. "When you're in a bad mood, you should eat and drink to your heart's content!" This was Fu Xia's code of conduct.

So, Xu Guihe, who was following her, was taken to dinner by her, and it was a high-end restaurant at that.

Fu Xia was clearly a regular at this restaurant. As soon as she entered, the manager greeted her with a smile and asked, "Ms. Fu, is this your usual place?"

After Fu Xia nodded, she led Xu Gui and the others to a secluded and quiet private room. When the waiter brought the menu, Fu Xia skillfully selected several items:

"This, this, and this... I don't want these, bring me everything else!"

It was just ordering food, but they somehow managed to create the atmosphere of a lavish shopping spree in a mall.

The waiter, upon hearing her words, showed no curiosity and simply leaned forward, saying, "Okay, please wait a moment."

When the waiter returned with the menu, the restaurant manager saw her and asked, "How was it?"

The manager didn't say what she meant, but the waiter immediately understood and replied, "Miss Fu only has a few dishes she can't eat and doesn't like. Please bring us the rest."

The manager understood; Ms. Fu was in a bad mood again.

This restaurant is an old establishment. Ever since Fu Xia ate here once when she was little, she would come here and order a huge feast whenever she was in a bad mood. So, if she came to eat one day and ordered a huge feast, it meant that she was in a bad mood.

Now, she's clearly in a bad mood again.

At this moment, Fu Xia, who was in a bad mood, cheered herself up and introduced the restaurant to Xu Gui and the others: "The food here is really delicious. They say their ancestors were imperial chefs..."

At this point, Fu Xia shrugged and said, "Of course, we don't know if this is true or not, but eight out of ten restaurants on this street claim that their ancestors were imperial chefs in the palace."

It's all about the hype. It's as if as long as a family's ancestors were imperial chefs, they have celebrity endorsement, and their food is guaranteed to be delicious.

"But of all the restaurants I've tried, hers is the best." Fu Xia perked up as she said this, showing some enthusiasm. She added, "You might not know, but the head chef of this restaurant is a girl."

She wasn't saying this to look down on girls who work as chefs; it's just that female chefs are very rare in the culinary world. This is partly because kitchens are often smoky and oily, and partly because cooking requires a lot of physical exertion, which most girls can't do.

Therefore, you will find that many restaurants have male chefs and very few female chefs, and this restaurant is one of the rare exceptions.

After her introduction, Xu Gui and the others gained a general understanding of the restaurant. However, they did not chat for long before the waiter brought out the dishes they had ordered. The first thing served was dessert. The first dish seemed to be some kind of ice cream, shaped into a ball and placed in a glass container. There were three servings in total, one for each of the three people.

"This is my favorite ice cream!" Fu Xia excitedly picked up her spoon. "I order this every time I come here, but they have a purchase limit for this ice cream; each person can only order one! Many people come here specifically to eat just for this ice cream."

As she spoke, she happily scooped a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, a blissful expression on her face.

Xu Gui glanced at her, somewhat doubting that her claim of being in a bad mood was just an excuse to overeat. Now, she didn't seem unhappy at all.

Xu Gui also took a spoonful of ice cream and scooped it out herself. As soon as the ice cream entered her mouth, the expression on her face brightened up noticeably.

"How is it? Delicious, right?" Fu Xia asked her proudly.

Xu Gui nodded very seriously: "It's delicious."

She had only ever had a small ice cream for 9.9 yuan before, and she thought it was already delicious. But the ice cream she was eating now tasted even better. The texture was extremely delicate, and the sweetness was not cloying. The cool and refreshing taste was simply mesmerizing.

After they finished their ice cream, the other dishes were served. For the rest of the time, the three of them didn't talk much. Except for the occasional introduction of a dish by Fu Xia, they focused on eating.

However, Fu Xia ordered far too much, so all the surrounding booths were given up to let them set out the dishes, and a food cart was also brought over, which was also full of the ordered dishes.

Fu Xia reminded Xu Gui and the others: "Don't just focus on one dish. There are so many dishes, try a bite of each one. That way, you can taste the flavor of each dish."

The cameraman struggled to lift his head from the table and said, "With so much food, wouldn't it be a waste if we couldn't finish it?"

Fu Xia said nonchalantly, "It's okay. We haven't touched it. We can pack it up and take it home to eat. Or, the restaurant staff can pack it up and take it home to eat. It won't go to waste."

The person filming nodded in realization.

As Xu Gui listened, a thought struck him, and his gaze fell upon the seemingly endless expanse of vegetables, his eyes beginning to sparkle.

*

The three of them ate for a long time. Fu Xia ate the most. She was in a bad mood, so she kept stuffing herself, but no matter how much she stuffed herself, her stomach had its limits. When her stomach became round, she couldn't eat anymore.

"I can't eat anymore, I really can't eat anymore!" The cameraman waved his hand, looking like he was exhausted from eating.

Xu Gui had already put down her chopsticks and was drinking a beverage with a regretful expression on her face. She was regretting that she was now human. If she were a Xuan Turtle, this whole table wouldn't be enough for her to eat.

Well, she discovered another flaw in being human: she can't always eat her fill of delicious food at once.

Fu Xia leaned back in her chair, patted her round belly, and said, "I feel much better now."

Her biggest hobbies are looking at handsome men, falling in love, and eating. When she gets depressed in one area, she has to make up for it in another hobby to achieve a balance.

Now, having thoroughly enjoyed the delicious food and feeling completely satisfied, she said, "It's okay, I'm sure I'll meet a normal, handsome guy next time!"

Normally, this person is someone with a decent appearance and a decent personality. Most importantly, he must be an adult. She never wants to experience this embarrassment again.

This mistake will absolutely not happen again, Fu Xia gritted her teeth.

Xu Gui's gaze remained fixed on the unfinished food. She looked at Fu Xia and politely asked, "Can I take this food with me now?"

Although the three of them ate very hard, their combined strength was limited, so there were still about thirty dishes left untouched, each of which looked very tempting.

Xu Gui had his eye on these dishes for a long time.

"Do you want it packed up?" Fu Xia was taken aback.

Xu Gui nodded and said, "I want to pack some back for the children at the orphanage. They've definitely never had such delicious food before, and they'll be so happy to see it!"

Fu Xia's eyes widened, and she stammered, "How...how can we let the children eat our leftovers? I'll order another serving!"

She was a little embarrassed.

Xu Gui shook his head and said, "No need. These dishes haven't been touched and are all clean. There's no need to order anything else. This is enough."

Fu Xia opened her mouth, her expression conflicted, as if she felt embarrassed.

"Then, I'll order another ice cream for the kids!" She had a sudden idea, and fearing that Xu Gui would refuse, she quickly added, "Don't say no, this is a small token of my appreciation for the children!"

Xu Gui: "...Okay."

Seeing that she had agreed, Fu Xia became happy again and hurriedly waved for the waiter to come and pack the food. As for the ice cream, she planned to go out and buy it, since the ice cream at this store was limited and each person could only buy one serving, and she was no exception.

The restaurant waiter seemed a little surprised by her request and asked again, "Do you want to pack all of these dishes to take home?"

Fu Xia nodded, "Yes!"

Waiter: "...Okay."

When she returned to the kitchen and told the staff what had happened, they were all a little shocked. There was no such thing as before.

In the past, Fu Xia would save the food she couldn't finish so that they could share it. But this time, she said she wanted to pack it up and take it away.

"I think it's not Miss Fu who wants to pack up the leftovers, it's the two people she brought!" someone said sourly. "Those two look very poor, they don't look like they have any money. In our restaurant, we've never had any customers asking to pack up leftovers before, they don't even feel ashamed."

As soon as the man said this, the manager next to him glared at him and reprimanded him, "Shut up! What do you think it is to tell the customer what to do?"

Feeling humiliated in public, the girl's expression changed, and she looked aggrieved.

"I'm going to tell my cousin and my dad that you're bullying me!" She ran away, wiping away her tears.

Seeing this, the person next to him looked at the manager and couldn't help but say, "Manager, Bai Tian is the boss's cousin, and her father is our sous chef. Why are you talking about her?"

"What if she really complains and her dad comes after you? Chef Bai already doesn't like you."

The manager, with a stern face, said, "I'm a person who judges by my actions, not by personal relationships. If the boss wants to blame me, then I have nothing to say."

The others looked at each other and couldn't help but sigh.

Meanwhile, Bai Tian rushed out of the work area and ran to the kitchen to find her father.

When her father saw her like this, he immediately exclaimed, "Oh dear, my darling daughter, why are you crying like this? Did someone bully you?"

Bai Tian wiped away her tears and blurted out, "Dad! When are you finally going to take over Qin Sulan's restaurant? I'm so fed up with being a waitress!"