BAOZI PET SHOP 27

Chapter 27: Something on His Mind

“Okay~” Lin Xia’s heart swelled with happiness. Although it wasn’t the money he cared about, Tang Yinlang’s words were a genuine comfort to his exhausted spirit. Because of this, he even added a playful symbol to his reply.

“When are you coming home?” Tang Yinlang asked.

“Right after lunch. You?” Lin Xia responded.

“Me too.”

“Okay, I’m going to help with lunch now. Talk to you later, see you soon.” With that, Lin Xia had to go help Mother Chen and ended the chat.

“Alright.” Lin Xia waited for Tang Yinlang’s reply before putting his phone away to help. Unexpectedly, Bai Tuanzi called out to him.

“Awoo?” Dad, An’an wants to chat with Ziyu gege, Mengzheng gege, and Uncle Li Hao… can I?

The names Bai Tuanzi listed were the part-time students and regular customers from the shop. They were all very kind to him, and he wanted to wish them a Happy New Year. He had used WeChat to chat with them before; you could say Bai Tuanzi was a little tiger cub who knew his way around the app.

“Of course.” Lin Xia stroked Bai Tuanzi’s head and handed him the phone. Bai Tuanzi knew the password, unlocking the screen with a few light swipes of his paw.

“Awoo!” Bai Tuanzi lay on the sofa and started sending out New Year’s greetings. He quickly got replies, and people cheerfully sent him red envelopes.

“Happy New Year, An’an! I got a huge red envelope yesterday, so I’m sending a big one to you!” Wang Ziyu sent a red envelope, which Bai Tuanzi expertly tapped with his paw to accept. For every blessing he sent, he received a red envelope in return.

“Awoo?” Huh? Someone sent a red envelope in the group chat! The moment Bai Tuanzi saw it, he got excited, his little paws frantically tapping the screen—poke, poke, tap, tap—snatching one red envelope after another.

“Wow, Lin-ge, your fingers are fast! I barely managed to get any, but you got every single one!” This was the pet shop’s group chat, and the person speaking was Wang Ziyu.

“Lin-ge, send a red envelope!”

After Bai Tuanzi got the “Luckiest King” prize multiple times, a perfectly aligned series of messages demanded that he send the next one.

“Awoo!” Wait! Bai Tuanzi sent a commanding voice message, followed by a large red envelope. He knew how to receive them and how to send them; he even knew Lin Xia’s payment password for WeChat.

“An’an?” Tang Yinlang was also in the group. He had seen “Lin Xia” snatching red envelopes and was wondering why he wasn’t in the kitchen, but when he heard Bai Tuanzi’s voice, he understood everything.

“Awoo!” Uncle Tang, it’s An’an! Bai Tuanzi greeted Tang Yinlang happily.

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“Lin-ge, is An’an with you?” Wang Ziyu still had no idea that the one furiously snatching red envelopes in the chat was Bai Tuanzi; he thought it was Lin Xia all along.

“Awoo!” Dad went to the kitchen, only An’an is here! Bai Tuanzi explained, but besides Tang Yinlang, no one else could understand him.

Feeling mentally drained, Bai Tuanzi continued to snatch red envelopes. He decided he would ask his dad to tell Ziyu gege and the others that it was An’an who had been snatching them all along.

Someone else who was just as mentally drained was Tang Yinlang. He had discovered that his cub was addicted to snatching red envelopes at such a young age; he probably had a case of “red envelope snatching syndrome.” Tang Yinlang went online to look it up and found that this condition wasn’t easy to treat. He knew he had to talk to Lin Xia about it when he got back.

After lunch, Lin Xia took Bai Tuanzi and Xiao Cangshu home. They returned with several bulging red envelopes and some New Year’s goods, which were apparently local specialties from the capital and would last them a long time.

When they got home, Lin Xia specifically looked next door and felt a pang of disappointment when he saw that Tang Yinlang wasn’t back yet. Thankfully, Tang Yinlang messaged him that he was already on his way and would arrive shortly.

When Tang Yinlang arrived at the Green Vines residential complex, he didn’t even open his own door after parking. He walked straight over and knocked on Lin Xia’s.

Lin Xia came to let him in, and Tang Yinlang entered carrying the things his grandmother had packed for him.

“You brought back a ton of stuff too,” Lin Xia smiled, helping him take the items out one by one to put them away.

The cookies and cake his grandmother had personally baked needed to be eaten soon. The fruit could last a bit longer, as could the rice dumplings. As for the sugarcane, they could eat it right away; Bai Tuanzi would surely love it as a teething stick.

After they organized everything they had both brought back, they set out the cookies and cake, cut up a plate of fruit, and each grabbed a stalk of sugarcane. They chatted while watching TV, filling the house with warmth and life.

Bai Tuanzi was still busy snatching red envelopes. He couldn’t help it; there were just too many in the group chats, appearing one after another. He was completely hooked and had no intention of stopping. He had even taught Xiao Cangshu how to do it. When Bai Tuanzi got tired, Xiao Cangshu would take over.

Tang Yinlang observed this for a long time and felt the little tiger cub was in too deep. Out of concern for the cub’s well-being, Tang Yinlang brought it up tactfully.

“Lin Xia, An’an seems really good at snatching red envelopes.” Tang Yinlang meant no harm; he just wanted to point out that Bai Tuanzi was playing a bit too intensely. But when he said it, Lin Xia’s heart dropped.

Did Tang Yinlang figure something out? Lin Xia worried. Tang Yinlang’s words were a sudden reminder of the problems that existed between them—problems Lin Xia hadn’t paid attention to but were now laid bare before him.

Bai Tuanzi’s behavior wasn’t like that of a normal pet. Anyone who spent enough time with them would naturally notice, let alone someone as intelligent and perceptive as Tang Yinlang. Besides, the way Lin Xia treated Bai Tuanzi made it obvious that things weren’t so simple. Tang Yinlang might not have discovered the true relationship between him and Bai Tuanzi yet, but if he started to dig deeper, he would definitely find it strange. How would he explain it then? Tell him directly that Bai Tuanzi was his son, and that his son was from a different species? Furthermore, Bai Tuanzi would transform into a human after he turned three. Could he keep that a secret from Tang Yinlang? And how would he explain the sudden appearance of a son?

The temperature in the room was perfectly comfortable, but Lin Xia’s back was drenched in a cold sweat. He suddenly realized that there were massive problems between him and Tang Yinlang that needed to be resolved. Things like his past, Bai Tuanzi’s identity, the fact that he had once given birth to a child for another species… To put it bluntly, his past wasn’t exactly glorious. Lin Xia believed Tang Yinlang wouldn’t mind his past. But he wasn’t sure if Tang Yinlang would accept the fact that Bai Tuanzi was his biological son. Any normal person would find it hard to accept that their partner had a child with a strange identity, let alone a child that wasn’t theirs.

Lin Xia knew that if he wanted to be with Tang Yinlang forever, he couldn’t hide Bai Tuanzi’s identity. But he didn’t dare to take the gamble. He was terrified that the moment he told him, Tang Yinlang would think they were monsters…

Tang Yinlang didn’t know what he had said wrong. After his remark, Lin Xia’s smiling face became grave, and he even seemed to be avoiding his gaze.

“What’s wrong?” Tang Yinlang asked, concerned.