Divorce Application - Chapter 15
Chapter 15: Bristling
Housekeeper Wang was a little confused. She calculated the days. “Salt just had a bath last week. Today isn’t his bath day.”
Lin Xia stood in the center of the living room, neither approaching nor leaving. Her tone was always gentle. “The seasons are changing, and he’s shedding a lot. It’s easy to cause allergies, so baths and brushing should be more frequent.”
Liu Sinan raised an indifferent eyebrow, stepped down the stairs, and pulled out a chair that looked comfortable, making a “creak” sound before sitting down.
Wu Haoxue sat down with her.
Housekeeper Wang felt the atmosphere was off and hurried forward. “I’ll make you some coffee. Please wait a moment.” She looked at Wu Haoxue, remembering she was quite familiar. “Miss Wu likes cappuccinos, right?”
Wu Haoxue gave a sweet smile in return. “Cappuccino with extra sugar, thank you, Aunt Wang!”
She then took out her phone, swiped a few times on the screen, and tilted her head for Liu Sinan to see.
xue: Who is this person, acting so high and mighty?
Liu Sinan’s phone was on silent. She took it out and nonchalantly replied.
nan: Should be named Lin Xia.
xue: I didn’t ask for her name!
Wu Haoxue “tsk”ed, annoyed at her lack of fight.
xue: Look at her, she’s acting like the lady of the house. You’ve only been gone for a few days, and she’s already taken over?
nan: Lin Xia is the madam’s private doctor.
xue: [Cynical laugh.jpg] Private doctor.
Without needing to decipher, Liu Sinan knew what Wu Haoxue was implying.
She took three seconds to let the bitterness in her heart subside and replied as if nothing had happened.
nan: She hasn’t said anything yet. Let’s see what happens.
Liu Sinan was backlit, and her already fair skin had a fragile, translucent quality under the light. Her fingers scrolled across the screen, long, slender, and clean.
She exuded an otherworldly, detached aura, like a fairy uninterested in worldly affairs.
Wu Haoxue, who came from a scholarly family but loathed this kind of ethereal air, scoffed, a truly devastating comment.
xue: She’s raising your dog.
xue: She’s shaving your dog’s fur.
xue: She says your dog’s fur causes allergies.
xue: She’s going to scrub your dog bald.
Liu Sinan’s nonchalant movements came to an abrupt halt.
Her finger pressed hard on the screen, leaving a warm fingerprint.
“…” Can this be tolerated?
Can Salt endure it? He’s being scrubbed bald.
Can Liu Sinan endure it? Her dog is being manipulated and pushed around.
Apparently not.
Liu Sinan stood up with a “swoosh,” her knee pushing the wooden chair a significant distance away.
Wu Haoxue thought she was about to fight and quickly grabbed her wrist, urgently sending a message with her eyes.
Fighting is a bad idea!
Liu Sinan didn’t even glance at her. She pulled Wu Haoxue’s hand away and headed upstairs.
Wu Haoxue didn’t understand her move. “Is she going to shut herself in, or is she going to set fire to Mr. Li’s house?”
Housekeeper Wang came over with two cups of coffee and said with a smile, “Miss is probably going to find Mi Fan.”
Mi Fan, the little tyrant of the villa, a one-of-a-kind ruler.
Only three years old, he weighed 14 pounds, one of the fattest cats in the feline world.
The two were interrupted by Lin Xia as soon as they entered, and only now did they remember the existence of this little cutie in the villa.
Wu Haoxue’s nonexistent long ears perked up. She scrambled upstairs, her voice excited and her expression enthusiastic. “Mi Fan, your Auntie is here for a hug—”
Raising cats was a tradition in the Li family.
When Li Jinping turned 18, she moved out of her family’s home and ran into a stray cat “blackmailing” her, so she took it in.
The stray cat turned its life around, lived a life of good food and drink for over a decade, and then passed away.
Li Jinping’s understanding of life and death was more profound than most. She was responsible for the cat’s life, and the cat, in turn, brought her warmth and comfort. It was a mutual relationship.
She wasn’t heartbroken and didn’t get another cat.
That was until three years ago, when her friend’s Ragdoll went into heat and snuck out, getting pregnant by a stray orange tabby. It gave birth to a litter of mixed breeds, and Li Jinping was given one. That was when a cat’s presence returned to the villa.
Liu Sinan preferred dogs. Mi Fan’s personality was probably inherited from his orange tabby dad—a little wild and a little solitary, only clinging to Li Jinping and maintaining a respectful distance from Liu Sinan.
The corner on the second floor was a small storage room. The triangular space was filled with supplies for Salt and Mi Fan.
She skillfully opened the invisible door that was flush with the wall and pulled out a bag of quail freeze-dried treats.
“Crackle” “Swoosh”
The packaging made a plastic sound.
Then, there was the not-so-harsh sound of something heavy falling.
Liu Sinan looked down, and a pair of fluffy paws were on the back of her hand.
She looked up and met Mi Fan’s gaze.
Mi Fan was a Mitted Ragdoll with a distinct face and light blue pupils. His expression was very arrogant. His paws resting on the back of Liu Sinan’s hand looked as if he was condescendingly leaning on a servant.
Mi Fan didn’t move, and neither did Liu Sinan.
“Want some?” Liu Sinan curled her lips, her tone unpleasant. “Say something.”
Mi Fan ignored her, lowered his head, and extended a paw to hook the quail freeze-dried treats.
Liu Sinan made a feint, pulled the treats back into her arms, stood up, and looked down at Mi Fan with an arrogant gaze.
“So impolite. You don’t even greet an elder when she returns.”
Wu Haoxue, who had just come upstairs and hadn’t found her footing yet, heard this and immediately rolled her eyes.
“You’re a real piece of work.”
Snatching the freeze-dried treats, Wu Haoxue ran to Mi Fan. “Little Mi Fan, do you want some freeze-dried treats?”
Liu Sinan frowned. “His name is Mi Fan.”
“Go away!” Wu Haoxue turned to glare at her. “Don’t interrupt my alone time with Little Mi Fan.”
Liu Sinan sat cross-legged on the stairs, two steps away from them.
Mi Fan’s fur was entirely white, except for a yellow patch on his belly. His face was not as broad as a purebred Ragdoll’s; it was more like a round melon seed shape.
Now, he ate like he was ravenous, gobbling down quail heads one after another.
After watching for a while, the frustration in Liu Sinan’s heart had mostly dissipated, and she said lazily but sharply, “Fatty.”
Hearing her voice, Mi Fan glanced at her. He seemed to recognize her but didn’t want to bother with her.
Wu Haoxue panicked. “What do you know? This is called plump!”
She went to cover Mi Fan’s ears, as if comforting a child. “Mi Fan, be a good boy, don’t listen to this person’s nonsense… Ah!”
The cat didn’t like things coming from behind its face and bit Wu Haoxue’s palm.
Liu Sinan burst into laughter, leaning back and forth, pointing at them. “Serves you right!”
She laughed so hard and leaned back so far that she accidentally fell over.
“Thump.”
It didn’t seem to hurt.
Liu Sinan’s head rested on something soft yet firm. She looked up and saw Li Jinping upside down.
“Ma’am.” Liu Sinan immediately sat up, only to realize that she had fallen on Li Jinping’s slipper. The hard thing must have been Li Jinping’s toe.
Li Jinping seemed to have just woken up, wearing silk pajamas with the collar slightly open, revealing her delicate, fair collarbone.
She hadn’t brushed her hair; her long hair fell naturally over her chest, looking a little lazy and a little tired.
A faint shadow wrinkled at the corner of her eye, hidden in her hair.
Li Jinping looked down at her, then quickly shifted her gaze, as if she didn’t care, to Wu Haoxue’s side, nodding lightly. “Good afternoon.”
Wu Haoxue, holding the cat tightly without letting go, could only manage to look up and smile. “Hello, Mr. Li, hello.”
…
“Meow!” Mi Fan was annoyed and wanted to extend his claws.
“Mi Fan,” Li Jinping said in a calm but forceful voice. “Quiet.”
The bristling cat instantly became quiet as a mouse.
Liu Sinan was also quiet as a mouse.
Wu Haoxue went downstairs with the suddenly obedient cat, leaving the two of them alone.
“What are you doing sitting here?” Li Jinping was the first to speak.
Liu Sinan let out a breath and looked up at her.
Her eyes were exquisite, with almond-shaped lids that turned up slightly at the corners, making them look lively and clear.
Li Jinping’s presence was composed and unreadable.