Chapter 38
The old house is surrounded by a villa neighborhood. Auntie went to ask around nearby, and everyone said no cats had been lost.
So the family officially gained a new member.
But they had never owned a cat before, and the cat house, litter, and food were bought in a hurry. The kitten’s health was still unknown, so Lin Ke planned to have Aunt Chen take it for a checkup and vaccinations tomorrow.
So that night the little kitten could only stay in the cage.
Si Xiaotie and Qin Mancheng were already too exhausted to move, squatting in front of the cage staring.
The hungry, cold kitten had eaten its fill, been cleaned, and was curled comfortably in the soft cat bed, its body rising and falling slightly with each breath; its four pink little paws occasionally opened and closed unconsciously, sleeping soundly.
The two children spoke in fits and starts:
“Brother, it’s a little bit small.”
“Mm, I can lift it with one hand.”
“I can too. It was just over there, all wet, meowing at me, so I grabbed it!”
Si Xiaotie asked again, “Brother, how old is it?”
Qin Mancheng: “I don’t know, one year old?”
“Then am I this big at one year old too?”
“We’re humans, it’s a cat, they’re different.”
“Alright.”
After a while, the sleeping kitten woke up, stretched a little, and when it saw people it trotted over, meowed twice. Si Xiaotie immediately turned his head and shouted, “Mom, the kitty is hungry. Where is its food?”
Lin Ke said, “It just ate; it needs to digest, so we can’t feed it again.” She added a reminder, “The kitten’s stomach is still very small. Xiaotie and Manman can’t randomly feed it too much, or the kitten will get sick.”
“Mm!” Si Xiaotie turned back and wanted to touch it, but didn’t dare; his little hand was no longer the same hand that used to grab crabs, eels, and worms, and he drew it back in fear.
“Brother, should we give it a name?”
“What should we name it?”
“Hmm…” The little dinosaur-spider’s head had now become a kitten’s head. Si Xiaotie thought seriously for a long while but still couldn’t come up with one. “Brother, you name it.”
Qin Mancheng said, “We can call it Lele, because Xiaotie picked it up.”
“Yay.” Si Xiaotie was very pleased with the name, then turned to his mother and said, “Mom, the kitten has a name now—it’s called Lele.”
“Okay.”
Si Yuming came back after eight. When he entered, Qin Mancheng had already gone to shower and do homework, but the little girl was still by the cat cage, probably tired of squatting; she had found a small stool from somewhere and was sitting upright on it.
She turned around when she heard the noise, then ran over and threw herself into her father’s arms, eager to share, “Daddy, I found a kitten, it’s so cute! Its name is Lele!”
Si Yuming had already noticed the extra cage in the house. He picked up his daughter and walked over. The kitten had fallen asleep again, curled into a small ball, its breathing steady and even.
He first asked, “Does Mom know?”
“She knows, Mom even helped Lele take a bath.”
Then that’s fine.
Si Yuming stayed with her to watch the kitten. The little girl chattered away about how she found the cat; he listened patiently for a while, and when she finally paused halfway through he asked, “Where did Mom go?”
“Mom is taking a bath.” Si Xiaotie straightened the man’s face as he looked upstairs. “Dad!”
“Hmm?” Si Yuming glanced back.
“You’re not paying attention.” Si Xiaotie frowned, but only for two seconds before giggling again. “Mom said that tomorrow Grandma Chen will take Lele to get a shot, and then it can stay with us~”
“Hmm, it was Mom’s first day at work today. Is she in a good mood?”
“I’m in a great mood.” Si Xiaotie hadn’t finished, “Then after Lele gets his shot he can come out to play. Brother says he’s only one now and still has to grow. When he grows up he’ll become big.”
“Okay, when he grows up.” Si Yuming put his daughter down, “I’m going to check on Mom.”
After saying that he turned and went upstairs. Si Xiaotie looked at Daddy’s big body, frowned, hmph, stinky daddy.
But in the next moment, seeing Lele’s pretty brows instantly relax, she leaned toward the cage and spoke, “Lele baby, you sleep nicely, okay? I’m going up to sleep too. My mom said she’s going to tell me a penguin story. Good night~”
Upstairs, when Si Yuming opened the bedroom door there was the sound of water coming from the bathroom; he went to the cloakroom to change.
After changing and waiting a while, the bathroom door opened and warm steam drifted out. A woman in a bathrobe stood at the mirror to wipe her face and get ready to blow-dry her hair.
He leaned closer. “How was work today?”
“It was pretty good.”
She actually felt it was a bit mystical. She’s now twenty-eight or twenty-nine; the child is already four and she has worked for two years before, but stepping into that office building today Lin Ke felt like a newcomer. The people inside were all seniors; she needed to cautiously get to know each person, humbly ask and learn, and integrate into this new world step by step.
“Have you encountered any difficulties?”
Lin Ke glanced at him, amused. “It’s only my first day. What kind of difficulties could I have?”
“And your colleagues? Are they easy to get along with?”
“Not bad, I even ran into an undergrad classmate of mine. Haven’t seen her in ages; I didn’t know she works in the translation department.”
“What’s your boss’s name?”
“……” Lin Ke wouldn’t tell him, “So many bosses—who do you mean?”
“The biggest one.”
“Foreign Minister? Can’t you just look it up online.”
Si Yuming saw the playful smile at the corner of her mouth and relaxed, “If there’s anything you can’t resolve, you can tell me.”
After applying her face cream, Lin Ke looked over and said seriously, “If I come to you every time I have something I can’t solve, what does that make me?”
Si Yuming of course didn’t mean that, “I don’t mean that. I just want you to have confidence, and sometimes the matters involved are too complicated — you can’t control them just by wanting to. You need to be more careful in your work.”
The atmosphere suddenly turned serious. Lin Ke pressed her lips together and nodded: “I understand.”
They weren’t at the company anymore. Before, the worst consequence of making a mistake was financial loss; now it was different. Although she was still a bottom-level employee, she already had responsibilities, and the relationships were indeed intricately tangled.
She said, “I’ll learn slowly. I can handle it myself.”
“Alright.”
Lin Ke opened the drawer to take out the hairdryer, suddenly thought of something, turned and smiled, “Si Yuming, do you think one day I might also become your backing?”
The man listened, the corner of his mouth lifting, but after a moment it gradually stiffened.
Lin Ke remembered something too.
After his parents left, the old master no longer allowed the Si family to enter politics. Although she couldn’t compare to Si family’s parents, one foot at least was inside.
Si Yuming smiled again, stepped forward to embrace her, and said softly, “I’ll wait for you to become my confidence.”
……
After onboarding there was a week of training held at the district Party School, covering ideological and political education, laws and regulations, confidentiality rules, and a variety of other courses.
Training ran from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. every day. Lin Ke felt like she was back in school: the teacher lectured up front, she listened below, and she even dozed off from time to time.
Fortunately the training was semi-closed; she could go home to stay, otherwise living at the party school for a whole week would have been exhausting.
The lecturer for the final half-day was Yun Zheng, who mainly taught emergency management and handling of sudden incidents.
Lin Ke was seated in the middle of the second row; she could almost look straight up and see the man on the podium.
Yun Zheng wore an ordinary black jacket today, looking stern and old-fashioned, his expression still unsmiling. But the lecture was solid, full of case studies, and his voice was pretty good, so it wasn’t very soporific; Lin Ke listened and took many notes.
During the class break, Lin Ke took out her phone for a look.
Si Xiaotie had, at some point, sent her several messages again, and there were also messages from Zhang Man.
She stepped outside, listened first to the young girl’s enthusiastic sharing, and replied: [Mom should be home around six; Xiaotie, is there anything you want to eat?]
Then she went to read Zhang Man’s messages:
Zhang Man: [Baby, how’s the training?]
Zhang Man: [Is your boss single or not?]
The key was that last line. Lin Ke smiled and typed: [I heard he’s single.]
On her first day, Mo Xiwen revealed the background of the most sought-after person in their translation department, saying that since Yun Zheng joined the company he has remained single, has no scandals, no bad habits, and several girls in the department like him.
Lin Ke found it a bit unbelievable—after all, he could be considered a success by worldly standards, yet he’d been single for so many years? But she wasn’t too curious; whether someone was single had nothing to do with her.
Zhang Man replied: “Got it.”
She sent that and then there was no more, so Lin Ke put her phone in her pocket and prepared to return to the classroom.
She turned around and was so startled she took half a step back.
“Director Yun…”
The man looked like he had come out for some fresh air, gave her a faint sidelong glance, and walked over to the edge of the flowerbed.
Lin Ke hadn’t planned to say much to him, but suddenly remembered something and asked with concern, “How did Yuanyuan’s surgery go?”
“It went very smoothly. With proper recovery she should be able to speak normally again.”
Lin Ke sincerely felt happy for Yuanyuan. “That’s really wonderful.”
“Mm.”
Without another word, Lin Ke said goodbye and returned to the classroom.
Yun Zheng turned around, his gaze falling on that slightly frail figure; after a few seconds, he withdrew his eyes.
Class ended promptly at 5:30. Lin Ke packed up her stationery and things from the past few days and left.
Zhang Man messaged right on time: [Come out, girl, I’ll walk you back.]
Lin Ke couldn’t help laughing. So this person put down her phone and came over as soon as they finished chatting? All the better—this morning Si Yuming had conveniently given her a ride, so now she didn’t have to take a taxi.
Parking isn’t allowed at the school gate, so Zhang Man had been waiting outside early. As soon as they met, her true intention showed through: “Is your boss here? Do I have a chance to bump into him?”
What a coincidence—just as we were talking about him, Yun Zheng drove out, and after waiting at the gate for a bit, Zhang Man recognized him and waved frantically.
Lin Ke was so embarrassed she wanted to turn around and pretend she didn’t know him…
Yun Zheng rolled down the car window, feeling a bit puzzled.
Zhang Man forced a perfectly practiced smile. “Director Yun, would you mind giving us a lift? We’re just going to the mall up ahead.”
Yun Zheng glanced at the woman who bowed her head and avoided his gaze, nodding: “Convenient.”
It was a six- or seven-minute drive to the mall. Along the way Zhang Man talked nonstop, intentionally and unintentionally introducing herself, hinting and probing for information about him.
Yun Zheng didn’t say much in reply, but he was fairly polite.
Just before getting out of the car Zhang Man took out her phone and said very candidly, “Director Yun, can we add each other on WeChat?”
This isn’t a stretch of road convenient for parking. Yun Zheng looked back through the rearview mirror and said, “Lin Ke can add me from the work group.”
“Okay.”
With her goal accomplished, Zhang Manmu hurriedly pulled the person out of the car.
After the car drove away, she immediately urged, “Quick, quick, add him, then push his business card to me.”
Lin Ke was a little helpless. “Manman, are you sure about this?”
Zhang Man put away her smile, but wasn’t very serious. “Even though your boss is handsome, arrogant, and charming, I’m clear-headed. If I can make him mine it’ll be dumb luck to play with; if I can’t, it’s still a connection. I’ll need to rely on powerful people for whatever I do in the future.”
“You really are…”
“What? I’m being upfront, and he agreed openly too. It’s not illegal, right?”
“Fine, fine, fine, I’ll add him but is that not enough?” Lin Ke opened the large group that had been added in the past two days, found Yun Zheng and sent him the friend request message on WeChat.
“Remember, once he accepts, forward him to me.”
“Got it.”
She had made a spur-of-the-moment appointment with Zhang Man and couldn’t return on time. Before going home, Lin Ke bought Sī Xiaotie and Qin Mancheng their favorite strawberry cakes at the mall.
When they got home the little girl was already asleep; beside the princess bed slept Xiao Lele, breathing quietly, her sleeping posture exactly the same as her little owner.
Lin Ke tucked Si Xiaotie’s little feet into the quilt, kissed her forehead, said good night, and went back to his room.
Si Yuming had also finished his bath early and was working at the small desk in the bedroom, asking softly, “Have you eaten?”
I have, but after a whole day of training she was starving, and tonight she and Zhang Man had only had flashy, insubstantial Japanese food. As soon as he mentioned it, her emptied stomach gave two quiet little rumbles.
He seemed to hear, the corner of his mouth curling into a smile: “Auntie has probably gone to rest. Shall I quickly cook you a simple bowl of noodles?”
Lin Ke’s eyes lit up. “Mm, thank you.”
By the time she finished washing up, he had just finished cooking and brought the noodles over. “Here you go.”
“Coming.” After applying her makeup, Lin Ke sat down at the desk.
Si Yuming saw her hair was still wet, went to the bathroom to get a hairdryer and stood behind the chair to dry her hair.
Lin Ke’s hair texture was the same as Si Xiaotie’s, rather soft, easily grasped in one hand.
He set it to the lowest setting so the sound wouldn’t disturb their conversation.
“Is today the last day?”
The woman hummed as she ate: “Mm, it’s finally over. That wore me out.”
“What kind of training did they give?”
“All kinds of messy stuff. Some classes even confiscated phones — pretty strict overall.” Lin Ke took two more mouthfuls of noodles and another sip of broth, and casually said, “But mostly it’s training by big shots. I even saw some of them on the news, like that… never mind, you probably don’t know either.”
Si Yuming: “……”
“I heard from a colleague today that there’s a monthly exam in two weeks. The department’s monthly exams are fairly tough, and we’re new—failing would affect our conversion to permanent staff—so I expect I’ll be quite busy.”
“Also, next month they’re releasing a list of people to be posted abroad. They said everyone takes turns; whether your name is on it is up to fate.”
“Work starts next week. I don’t know what they’ll assign me. I heard the department has been very busy lately, with quite a few meetings.”
The woman rattled off several sentences at once, leaving Si Yuming no room to interject; it was a world he had never encountered.
She took two more bites, turned her head and asked naturally, “Where’s my phone?”
Si Yuming turned off the hairdryer and took her phone from the bedside table.
When he picked it up the screen lit up, and he saw the lock screen message.
[ Yun Zheng has accepted your friend request. ]
Yun Zheng, if I remember correctly, was the man who came to the house that day—her supervisor.
Si Yuming held his phone, stayed silent for a moment, then stepped away.
Lin Ke unlocked her phone, opened WeChat and tapped away, replying with several messages, typing continuously.
The noodles on the table gradually cooled; he called to her, “Lin Ke?”
No response; he had no choice but to speak again: “Honey?”
Half a minute later, the woman looked back. “Hm? You called me?”
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