"Fei... Fei..."
Was she finally going to find him?
Xiao Xiao shook his head.
"I don't know either."
Those words were like a basin of cold water poured over the old woman's head.
She froze.
Huh?
The old woman's mouth fell open.
What?
Was this young man joking, or was he messing with her?
The old woman took a deep breath.
"It... isn't your friend?"
Since it was this young man's friend, how could he not know where it was?
No.
Not knowing where it was was one thing.
"You could contact it, couldn't you?"
The old woman looked incredulous.
There were so many ways to contact someone in modern society...
Why not use them?
"No."
The old woman raised a hand and rubbed her forehead.
"I mean, you could contact its owner."
"You could ask where it is now."
"If it—"
The old woman paused, then quickly continued, "...doesn't want to come here, I can go see it."
"None of that is a problem."
"It doesn't have an owner."
Xiao Xiao's lips curled slightly.
"It doesn't have an owner..."
The old woman murmured.
Then the words came tumbling out. "Does it wander the streets?"
"Does it not have a permanent place to stay?"
Logically, even stray cats and dogs had somewhere they regularly rested.
"Mm."
Xiao Xiao nodded.
Though "stray" wasn't quite the right word to describe it.
"Isn't it your friend?"
The old woman's eyes widened.
"You don't know where it is... don't know how to contact it..."
The old woman was starting to stumble over her words.
"Then how do you see it?"
"Leave it to fate."
Xiao Xiao's eyes curved with a faint smile.
The old woman: ...
What an unexpected, yet not entirely surprising, answer.