Chapter 172 - Hanging Out With A Friend(?) (2)

Li Chunhua was skeptical, but she still prepared herself, just like he told her. She didn't want to appear too eager about this, so she chose a casual yellow shirt with jeans paired with navy-colored sneakers. The weather was pretty hot these days, so she tied her hair up in a ponytail.

Fortunately, the location he sent her wasn't too far from their house, so it wasn't hard for her to find it. She just needed to go a little further than the subway station and enter an alley after a coffee shop nearby.

When she finally arrived at the destined location, she looked up at what seemed to be a cat cafe in front of her. 

The signboard looked like it was painted by an amateur, and the cafe front looked as plain as a house you can find anywhere in the neighborhood. If it weren't for the signboard, Li Chunhua wouldn't notice it was a cafe all along.

"The fun place he wanted to show me is this cat cafe? No wonder he asked me whether or not I liked animals." Li Chunhua muttered. She had no hostility towards animals, but she wasn't the type that would go on her way to gush about how cute they were, like Li Caiyi. For her, an animal was just another living being. Nothing more or less. 

"Oh, you are here earlier than I thought." 

Li Chunhua jumped slightly at the sound of a familiar voice. She turned around, only to find Shao Jingfei waving at her with his wide grin as usual. "I didn't expect you would really come here."

She snorted. "You are the one who asked me to come. Or what? Do you regret it now?"

"Man, cut me some slack, will you? Do you have to be on edge every time you talk?"

"It's because the way you said it irritated me!" 

Shao Jingfei sighed, "I thought you had gone milder after we finally shared the same interest, but you are as prickly as ever."

"Same interest? What are you talking about?"

"Well, aren't both of us now fans of the same author?" 

Li Chunhua quickly understood what he meant and fell silent. She couldn't deny that her sister's work was indeed excellent, despite her disapproval. If only the author of that manuscript were not her sister, she would love to be a fan of that author.

"When I first saw you, I thought you were Li Caiyi at first. It's the first time I see you with your hair up." Shao Jingfei scrutinized her appearance and gave her a nod of approval. "You choose a good outfit today. I wouldn't know what to do if you came crying to me later because your dress was covered with cat furs or something."

Now that he mentioned outfits, Li Chunhua couldn't help but notice his appearance. He was wearing a casual black t-shirt and blue jeans. He also wore an apron with the same logo as the cafe in the middle of it. No matter how you looked at it, he appeared like the employee of this place.

"You… Did you work here?"

"Yep. I took a part-time job here, and the store rarely gets many customers. I thought, why not just invite you, then? You can kill your boredom, and our store will get extra income. It's a win-win solution!"

Li Chunhua sighed. It seemed she really was worried about nothing. Looking at his shabby and messy appearance, there was no way he had an ulterior motive when he called her out here. The idea made her feel relieved because she came here to de-stress, not accumulate more stress.

"You look ugly with that apron," Li Chunhua commented sharply.

Shao Jingfei laughed at that. "I know, right? I also thought the design was slightly off, but the manager liked it. A lowly employee like me has no right to say anything."

Li Chunhua snickered sarcastically. "It goes well with you, though."

"Well, a handsome guy like me can even make a rag look outstanding." Shao Jingfei swiped his hair back in a narcissistic manner, which was responded with a disgusted look from Li Chunhua.

"Okay, let's stop the bragging there. Shall we go in, then?" Shao Jingfei beckoned for Li Chunhua to follow him.

When she arrived inside, she was stunned by how neat and modern the cafe looked. Li Chunhua kind of underestimated it at first because the cafe didn't look like it could attract any customer from the outside, but it was surprisingly pretty decent inside. 

There were a few circles in the middle of the room with tree trunks in the middle of them. Each trunk had some planks which could be used as the cat's playground. 

On a deeper part of the cafe, there was a space where small stairs were arranged so the cats could climb it towards tiny wood houses nailed on the wall. The cat could use the house as a place to sleep, or they could just use the cushion scattered on the floor to be their sleeping place.

A menu list on the top of the counter was made with a blackboard and drawn with colorful chalks. The design was trendy yet cute. 

The table and chairs for the customers were painted white, with enough plants beside the window to give the cafe a cozy and natural touch. The wall was littered with cat paintings in cute poses, and the twinkle lights around it gave the room a joyful atmosphere.

As though he could read her mind, Shao Jingfei said, "It's surprising, right? This cafe doesn't look like it could offer much from the outside, but it was actually pretty cozy inside."

Li Chunhua agreed with that, so she nodded before adding, "Well, although the inside is fine and all, what's the point if the store couldn't attract customers? The interior design is important, but the storefront is the face of a store. It's important to give the same amount of effort to decorate the exterior as much as it's important to pay attention to the interior."

Shao Jingfei scratched the back of his head in a confused manner. "I understand your point of view, but the manager didn't open this cafe for profit. It's merely his hobby to make a haven for cats, and the idea of making it a cafe just suddenly came to him, or so I heard."

"I see, but it's such a waste of good potential." Li Chunhua put her fingers on her chin and put on a serious look. 

"For example, the manager could use the same person who made that menu to work on the signboard outside or add some flare to the front by placing those little flags and twinkle lights around it. As long as the signboard is noticeable or conspicuous, more people will take notice of this place."

Shao Jingfei whistled upon seeing Li Chunhua's serious look. "I don't know you care a lot about stuff like this. Are you perhaps interested in interior design or something?"

"No? Not really. It's just that people's mood will get better just from sitting in a well-decorated room. Isn't this normal for everyone?"

"I don't think so? If it's about a book cover and its content, then maybe. But personally, I don't care that much about interior design," Shao Jingfei replied nonchalantly. "And the cafe design is not even the best part of this place."

He clapped his hand twice, and not long after that, a few little furry creatures showed their heads from inside the tiny houses on the wall or behind the furniture. Their fur was varied in colors, and each one of them stared at them with their sparkly cat-eyes. 

"The best thing about this cafe is, of course, these babies!" Shao Jingfei chuckled.