Chapter 633: Sharing a Table
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhang Zian had been waiting for some time now, periodically checking the time on his phone. It was originally expected to take around half an hour, but there was a couple ahead of him who had left the line mid-way. Something must have came up for them or maybe it was the cold weather, but he only had to wait for about 20 minutes before entering the restaurant.
After the last customer left, Aunt Li cleared the table for the next guest. She was surprised when she saw Zhang Zian. "Master Zhang, didn't you say that you didn't need a delivery today?"
Zhang Zian had notified them earlier saying that he didn't need food that day. The barbecued meat would be enough for the cats and dogs. Both Aunt Li and Uncle Li thought that Zhang Zian was heading out on some business, and they didn't expect him to come down in person for his meal.
"Heh, I'll be dining in today. I'll take the seafood pineapple fried rice, with orange juice. I'll be fine without the cat toys." He calmly pulled out a chair and sat down, ready to wait there until Old Time Tea and Famous returned.
"Okay, it'll be ready soon." Aunt Li hurriedly went back into the kitchen and instructed Uncle Li to pay special attention to his order of fried rice.
Zhang Zian casually looked around the restaurant. All the seats were taken, primarily by young female customers. All of them were holding different variations of cat toys, doing anything to get the cat's attention. Even their husbands and boyfriends were occupied, as they helplessly assisted with the cat teasers and laser pens.
Seven of the cats were already stuffed from the dried fish the customers had fed them. Some of them were stretching their paws in the ping pong scratcher and scooping the balls around, while some tried to catch the cat teaser. There were also those who were hugging their catnip toys on their backs. They had on a look of infatuation, and didn't care that their bodies were being exposed to everybody there.
Looking at all the cats, Zian's thoughts started wandering. By now, Old Time Tea and Famous must've made it into the Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base, right? What were they doing right then? The breeding base was so big, what if they weren't able to find any evidence of them doing anything illegal?
Since Famous had to wear the collar and camera, they couldn't be made invisible through the invisible command, unnecessarily adding another danger.
In reality, Zian knew that with Old Time Tea and Famous's bravery, there was really nothing for him to be worried about. Even if there was something the two of them couldn't handle, his worrying would be useless. Still, he couldn't just let it go.
Zian didn't have to see it for himself to know that some sort of shady practices were happening in the Love Lovely Pets Breeding Base. However, with Old Time Tea and Famous's character type, the moment they saw any mistreatment they would definitely not be able to leave the matter alone. That was the main reason he was worried.
"Excuse me, are you alone?" A young woman's voice interrupted his thoughts.
Momentarily dazed, he raised his head and saw a young lady standing beside his table. She was in a down jacket, wearing a woolen cap and gloves. Her face was unfamiliar—he'd never seen her before.
"I am," he nonchalantly replied.
"Then do you mind if I share this table with you? It's really cold outside," she asked as she pointed to the empty seat across him.
"Oh, sure," Zhang Zian answered without giving any thought to it.
There were two different types of tables in the bar, a four-seater and a two-seater, with most of them being four-seater tables. The last customers that had left were a couple, so Zhang Zian had grabbed the table for two and the seat across him was still empty.
Most of the four-seater tables were already occupied and there were only a few with one or two seats open. However, for somebody by themself, it was really hard to share a table with a group. With a two-seater table, it was different. Since the two were both alone, it didn't really make a difference who came first and who came after.
Having gotten Zhang Zian's permission, the young lady rubbed her hands together and sat down.
Aunt Li brought over a menu and asked, "What would this young lady like to have?"
The woman casually flipped through the menu and ordered her meal before handing the menu back to Aunt Li.
"Okay, your order will be ready soon." Aunt Li returned to the kitchen with the menu.
Not much later, Zhang Zian's order of pineapple seafood fried rice and orange juice was served.
The seafood rice was fried to a golden-brown, carrying a rich fruity fragrance. It had bright green scallions, white tender shrimp, and small pieces of golden-yellow pineapple mixed together. It looked delicious.
Zian grabbed his small spoon, and scooped in a mouthful. The sweet taste of pineapple with a hint of sourness stimulated his taste buds. The food increased his appetite, and his usually dormant stomach squirmed as if it couldn't wait to eat.
He ate a few more mouthfuls of fried rice and drank a sip of orange juice. Zhang Zian was enjoying his meal, and he'd unknowingly already ate half of the big plate of rice.
All of a sudden, something felt wrong. There was an tingling sensation coming from the top of his head, so he looked up to see the young lady staring at him with a weird expression on her face.
Zhang Zian nervously wiped the corner of his mouth, thinking that maybe while he was busy eating, some of the rice might have gotten on his face. He quickly looked down to see if orange juice had spilled on his shirt, but everything was fine. He hadn't embarrassed himself like he'd thought.
If everything was okay on his end, that could only mean that the young lady across from him was the one with an issue.
Could it be that she was mesmerized by how handsome he looked while he was eating?
With that thought, Zhang Zian felt elated. His level of handsomeness must have gotten higher without him realizing.
"Why don't you have a cat toy?" The young lady suddenly asked.
"What?" Zhang Zian's beautiful dream was shattered, leaving him momentarily stunned.
She motioned her face towards the other tables and said, "Your order of pineapple seafood fried rice should have come with a catnip toy. So why didn't the lady give it to you? Did she forget?"
At the table just besides them, there was another young lady who ordered the fried rice too. She hadn't touched her food much, and was currently playing around with a cat and a catnip toy.
The young lady must've meant well, so she added, "They're usually busy in the bar, and sometimes they forget things when they're too busy. Why don't you try asking the lady to bring over the catnip toy for you?"
Zhang Zian finally understood why she'd kept staring at him, and he couldn't help but feel disappointed. He put on a brave front and answered, "Thanks, but there's no need. I told the lady not to bring me the toy."
The young lady across was surprised and asked, "Why?"
"Well..." Zhang Zian had yet to think of an answer, but the young lady seemed to have come to a realization, and answered her own question.
"Is it that you don't like cats? If you don't like cats, why would you come to a Cat Fanciers Snack Bar for your meal? There's so many people lining up!"
Zhang Zian remained quiet.
It seemed like the lady expected all customers visiting the store to be cat lovers. It was tragic for people to visit the restaurant simply to eat their meal and not play around cats. Maybe she thought that those people should've given up their seats to ones who really liked cats.
Zian had initially thought that they were adding something unique to the restaurant, not making the place solely a cat cafe. Cat cafes were a laid back place that were for young people with money and time. The main purpose of a restaurant though, was to fill people's stomachs. There wasn't any rules saying that you couldn't eat there unless you loved cats.
Since they'd only met by chance and Zhang Zian was still worried about Old Time Tea and Famous, he had no interest in reasoning with the young lady. He laughed and offhandedly replied, "It's not that I don't like cats."
"Well you don't look like you like cats and if you do, why aren't you playing with them?"
Zhang Zian asked himself, You can tell if a person likes cats just from the way they looks? I'm sorry that I have that kind of face!
"That's because I always play with cats," he replied casually, as he continued to stuff food in his mouth.
"Always?" She looked at Zian suspiciously. "So you have your own cats then?"
"Hm…" Zhang Zian though for a moment. Do I count as someone who has cats?
Aunt Li came up with young lady's food, and coincidentally overheard her question. She cheerfully replied for him, "He's the owner of the pet shop just across from here, of course he has cats! A lot of them too!"
The young lady knitted her eyebrows, and turned around to look at the pet store through the window.
"A pet store?" The young lady quickly became furious, as if she was facing the criminal who'd taken her father's life. She firmly said, "Adoption over buying!"
Zhang Zian put his spoon down. It seemed like he wouldn't be able to continue his meal.