After leaving the Institute of Abnormal Life, Zheng Qing did not return directly to the school.
Holding a cardboard box, he wandered along the winding Pedestrian Street for quite some time before finally finding a cat café called "Coffee Cat." At the entrance crouched an Egyptian Cat fashioned from white porcelain, slender and well-proportioned, with two gleaming green gemstones set in its eye sockets. They shimmered enchantingly beneath the dim streetlights.
Seeing a customer arrive, the Egyptian Cat merely twitched its ears and remained perfectly still, not even sparing him an extra glance. Zheng Qing was certain that if a Teddy or a Pomeranian had been sitting at the entrance, it would have started yapping long ago.
The young scholarship student carefully stepped over the Alchemical Cat and pushed open Coffee Cat's glass door.
Beyond the door stood a towering cat tree, rough hemp rope densely wrapped around its wooden frame, decorating its simple platforms and branches. Many "cat fruits" hung every which way from the structure, just like the Cat Fruit Tree by Linzhong Lakefront. Zheng Qing vaguely thought he spotted several of his old subordinates on it, but people were not very good at recognizing cat faces, and those "old subordinates" showed no particular enthusiasm at his arrival, so he did not know whether he had mistaken them for other cats.
Taking a light breath, Zheng Qing revealed a satisfied smile.
The air in the shop was very fresh, far less reeking than he had expected. Many little green sprites could be seen hurrying back and forth among the vines hanging overhead, gathering up the cats' shed fur of every length, as well as the traces of their scent scattered around the shop that might affect the customers' experience.
The wizard stood at the entrance, looking around.
"Hello,