TBW - 9

Chapter 9: Good Cats, Bad People

Thanks to this special connection, the two women chatted animatedly throughout the ride. Zhou Yan shared everything she knew about the property management group, delivery points, security booths, and even the basic situation of their neighbors on the 12th floor. 

Before getting out of the car, upon learning that Zhou Yan hadn’t eaten dinner, Cheng Simin generously handed her one of the fragrant chicken legs from her plastic bag. “Eat up—it’ll give you energy for the work ahead.” 

The two women happily munched on their chicken legs in the car, while Shi Ying and his grandfather were fumbling in the dark to open a row of storage rooms downstairs. 

When they heard earlier that someone had come to buy the sofa, Shi Ying’s grandfather insisted on accompanying him to complete the transaction. 

First, he found the concept of young people buying and selling second-hand items online fascinating. Second, he was curious to see who would eagerly spend money on used furniture as if it were treasure. 

Wearing his reading glasses and holding a large keychain, the old man hunched over the lock, fiddling with it for nearly five minutes. 

Shi Ying tried several times to use his phone’s flashlight to help, but the stubborn old man refused, insisting, “I’ve been opening this door for decades. I don’t need light—I could do it blindfolded!” 

Shi Ying couldn’t help but laugh. “Grandpa, I’m not doubting your ability to open the door.” He pointed to the keychain. “But you have over a hundred keys here. Let’s check if you’re using the wrong one. Otherwise, let me handle it—you might take until tomorrow morning to get it open. Then I won’t be able to sell the sofa.” 

“How could that happen?” The old man snorted dismissively. “Each key has a unique shape—I can tell by touch alone. Stop teasing me; your grandpa isn’t senile yet.” 

A distant headlight beam swept toward them. Squinting, Shi Ying glanced back as Zhou Yan quickly switched from high beams to low beams. 

Shi Ying’s vision was excellent—one glance was enough, like zooming in with a 16x digital camera. The image of Cheng Simin sitting in the passenger seat immediately registered in his retina. 

Her face was soft and rounded, with no sharp angles or prominent bones. Double eyelids framed round eyes, her nose bridge was slightly low, and her lips naturally downturned when not smiling—but when she did smile, her muscles formed an endearing dimple on one cheek. 

At that moment, the owner of this face was laughing heartily, her cheeks puffed up as she chattered away. 

Shi Ying knew Cheng Simin’s age all too well—they had been desk mates in elementary school and classmates in middle school. She was an Aries born on April 15th, and no matter how you counted, she couldn’t possibly be a current college student. 

Moreover, he had visited her home many times as a child to walk to school together. Cheng Simin’s father was barely literate and certainly not fluent enough online to purchase furniture. Therefore, Cheng Simin couldn’t be buying the sofa on behalf of her father. 

That left only one conclusion: Cheng Simin, as a modern young woman, had married early at the age of twenty-six and was now “Saury Fish’s” wife. 

Perhaps residual pride prevented him from letting his former classmate know he was selling second-hand furniture at bargain prices. Or maybe it was gentlemanly discretion, avoiding unnecessary contact with a married woman. Either way, this time Shi Ying didn’t actively initiate conversation with Cheng Simin as he had during their chance encounter on the train. In fact, he avoided making eye contact altogether, immediately retreating toward the building entrance. 

But no matter how long his legs were, they couldn’t outrun a four-wheeled vehicle. By the time he had fled to the garbage station ten meters away from the unit door, Cheng Simin had already jumped out of the car. 

Under the bright headlights, Shi Ying’s grandfather finally managed to unlock the door. Embarrassed, he chuckled nervously, smoothing out the wrinkles on his face as he turned to apologize to Shi Ying. “Haha, turns out I grabbed the wrong key—how did I end up with the old garage key? Sigh, getting old really…” 

His sentence trailed off with an “Eh?” There was no sign of his precious grandson behind him—only a cloud of dust remained. 

Zhou Yan also stepped out of the car. She was introducing Cheng Simin to the family situation of Qi Jingang and Grandma Qi from Apartment 1202. When she moved on to talk about Apartment 1201, she glanced around, feeling as though she had seen someone resembling the resident of 1201 before turning into the alley. 

But such coincidences rarely happened in real life. Meeting Cheng Simin through this order already felt like fate. Surely, three neighbors wouldn’t all gather in one place in a single day—that would be more like something out of a novel, wouldn’t it?

She must have been seeing things. 

Tossing the chicken bone into the metal trash bin, Zhou Yan wiped her hands with a rag from the dashboard and pulled open the rear compartment of the van. “The resident of Apartment 1201 just moved in this year—a young man living alone. He seems quiet and well-mannered, probably around your age. I’m not sure what he does for work, but he’s always out early and back late. When he returns, it’s likely just to sleep—he’s rarely home.” 

“Hmm, that sounds pretty good,” Cheng Simin replied. Frequent renters and movers in the city knew well that compared to noisy, overly hospitable neighbors who partied day and night, the kind of quiet tenant Zhou Yan described was considered high-quality. Cheng Simin couldn’t have asked for better. 

Still chewing on her chicken leg, she swallowed the food in her mouth and used her clean hand to check the address and room number “Sparrow” had sent her. Approaching the warehouse entrance, she leaned in to greet the elderly man inside. 

“Hello, I contacted someone online to buy a sofa, and they sent me the location of this warehouse entrance. Is this the right place?” She glanced at the doorplate on the warehouse door. “Are you the one selling the unused furniture?” 

The old man had just finished turning in circles and flipping on the lights inside the warehouse. Hearing Cheng Simin speak, he turned around, straightened up, and nodded. “Yes, yes, it’s here. My grandson’s sofa.” As he lifted a few old newspapers covering the furniture to keep off dust, he muttered to himself, still unable to find Shi Ying: “He was just here a moment ago—where did he go?” 

“Miss, let me call him for you.” 

“I don’t understand these online dealings myself.” 

“Alright, then please contact him. We agreed on 800 yuan for the sofa set. If there’s any other unused furniture here that I can take, I’d like to see it too.” 

The old man squinted as he fiddled with his outdated smartphone. Meanwhile, Cheng Simin happily munched on her chicken leg, strolling between the unit entrance and the warehouse. Zhou Yan, bored, leaned against the car while scrolling through short videos. 

It felt like a spy game where one had to avoid being spotted by the enemy. 

Just a few meters away, hidden behind the garbage bins in a blind spot, Shi Ying crouched with his index finger pressed against his nose. The situation had escalated so quickly that he barely understood how he’d ended up in this predicament. 

To his left rear, the air reeked of drunken urine; to his right front, two moldy vegetable leaves dangled above the trash can. 

His stomach churned as if he’d swallowed fighting roosters. Suppressing his nausea, he strained to listen to the conversation between Cheng Simin and his grandfather coming from the warehouse. But fate conspired against him—two amorous flies buzzed incessantly near his ears, their relentless chase drowning out all other sounds. 

Shi Ying subtly twitched his ears, trying to shoo away the annoying hums. However, he soon realized the real danger: his phone wasn’t on silent mode! 

In the nick of time, he fished the phone out of his pocket. His grandfather had already dialed his number. 

Thanking the greatest invention in the world—the one-touch mute button—he switched the phone to vibrate mode just before the screen lit up. After rejecting the call, the heart that had leapt into his throat slowly sank back down. On the other side of the garbage station, Cheng Simin, brimming with energy like an energetic puppy, continued pacing back and forth, oblivious to everything. 

His grandfather called again, and Shi Ying had no choice but to reject it once more. 

His left leg began to feel numb from crouching awkwardly in such a confined space. Attempting to adjust his position, he shifted slightly backward—and stepped on an empty Coca-Cola can. 

“Oh dear, why isn’t this child answering the phone?” Inside the stuffy warehouse, the old man wiped sweat from his forehead. 

Meanwhile, Cheng Simin stood leisurely in the alleyway, enjoying the evening breeze without a care. Hearing rustling noises coming from the garbage bins, she perked up, assuming stray cats were scavenging for food. She immediately cupped her ears and approached the garbage station, switching on the flashlight on her phone. 

There was still a small portion of chicken leg left in her hand. Having owned a dog for three years, Cheng Simin harbored boundless sympathy for all stray animals. Thinking of Beibei, who was currently in foster care, her heart softened with compassion. She decided to offer her meal to the presumably starving kitten. 

Making soft kissing sounds with her mouth, she called out intermittently: “Here, kitty, kitty! Do you want something tasty? Do you like chicken legs or buns? I even have some squid! Come out, little kitty! Kitty!” 

Cheng Simin wrinkled her nose, continuing her coaxing as the white light from her phone drew closer and closer to where Shi Ying was hiding. 

Shi Ying’s heart raced as he frantically typed a message to his grandfather in his contacts list. It was clearly too late to emerge from behind the garbage bins now—who could face such embarrassment? He’d rather drop dead on the spot than be discovered by Cheng Simin. 

When Cheng Simin was only 30 centimeters away, he threw caution to the wind and opened his mouth wide, letting out a terrifying cat screech worthy of a horror movie. 

The fierce roar blew the two flies away. Surprisingly, he had quite the talent for mimicry. The ear-piercing cry sliced through the air—it was undoubtedly the most unpleasant and grating cat sound Cheng Simin had ever heard in her 26 years of life, both offline and online. 

How terrifying! Clearly, this wasn’t a friendly cat. 

The sound waves assaulted Cheng Simin’s eardrums, and her legs instinctively recoiled two steps backward. 

At that precise moment, Shi Ying’s ruse bought him enough time to finish editing the text message. Hitting send, the signal traveled to the server and bounced back. His grandfather emerged from the warehouse holding his phone and called out to Cheng Simin: “Miss, come here and help me read what this says.” 

Cheng Simin placed the chicken leg wrapped in the food bag on the ground and hurried back to the warehouse entrance. 

Picking up the old man’s phone, her expression gradually twisted into the same puzzled look as his as she read the message. 

The sender was labeled “Grandson.” 

The message read: “Busy. Give her the sofa. Money will bounce later. Hurry!”

After reading it several times, Cheng Simin handed the phone back to the elderly man, interpreting the message with a mix of skepticism and acceptance. “Ah, your grandson probably means I should take the sofa first and settle the money later? Maybe he’s busy and couldn’t type properly.” As she spoke, Cheng Simin stood on tiptoe to peer into the warehouse. The other party’s sudden generosity made her uneasy. “How about I check the condition of the sofa first? If it’s fine, I’ll transfer the money directly to your WeChat!” 

Buying second-hand furniture was usually a straightforward transaction—no need for delays. Cash on delivery, everyone benefited. 

Seeing that the young woman was efficient, the grandfather readily agreed. “Alright, let’s go inside and take a look.” 

With the matter settled, Zhou Yan tucked her phone into her back pocket, put on a pair of thread gloves, and followed the old man and Cheng Simin into the warehouse. 

No sooner had they stepped inside than a head popped out from behind the garbage bins. Shi Ying finally waited until all three of them were indoors. In the dim, mottled night, he darted out like a shadow and finally slipped into the unit entrance.