When Wen Ning returned to the shop, Zhang Siyu was crouching on the floor, blow-drying a tabby cat.
The cat had only arrived that afternoon. Apparently, its owner had abandoned it when the urban village next door was demolished. Softhearted as she was, Zhang Siyu had brought it back, bathed it, and treated its fleas. She planned to keep it for a few days, then find someone to adopt it.
Big Yellow lay in the usual spot, choosing to ignore this new intruder. After all, plenty of freeloaders came here for meals. It was just a cat.
But Wen Ning's footsteps were heavy as he came in, and Zhang Siyu glanced up at him.
Seeing that he looked constipated, she decided not to ask.
Whenever her boss came back from the Underworld, he usually either bragged cheerfully about whose strings he had pulled this time, or calmly munched on a cucumber as though nothing had happened. A face like today's was rare.
Then she watched Wen Ning plop down, raise his right hand, and slap himself across the face.
Smack.
The sharp, ringing sound made Big Yellow's ears shoot up and sent the tabby flying out of Zhang Siyu's hands and under a shelf.
"That's what you get for running your mouth."
Wen Ning muttered to himself, his tone full of profound self-reproach.
"That's what you get for saying yes to her. She wasn't even asking you to find him, so why the hell did you agree? Where are you supposed to look? That's Tang Sanzang! He became a Buddha! The Sandalwood Merit Buddha! You're a piddling little Heavenly Official, and you promised to find someone a Buddha?"
Still holding the hair dryer, Zhang Siyu stared dumbfounded as Wen Ning raised his left hand and slapped the other side of