Tan You: "It’ll just be the usual hours. I still have to go to Uncle Qiao’s place to learn tea tasting, and I go to the tea factory at a fixed time every day. Also, I need to be there when you’re editing. I didn’t completely understand everything you told me yesterday..."

Xu Liang smiled. "Ali, you’re so ambitious. You see someone with a talent and you immediately want to master it yourself. You’ll wear yourself out like that. You can take your time and learn things slowly. There’s plenty of time, so there’s no rush."

Tan You didn’t deny her ambition. She smiled. "Maybe so. I just want to learn as much as I can. What do you want for dinner? I’m in a good mood right now, so I’ll let you make a request."

Xu Liang suddenly grinned. "I want to eat that hodgepodge stew of yours."

Tan You arched an eyebrow, then suddenly broke into a smile. "That’s a recipe I came up with to feed the stray dogs. It’s basically dog food. Are you sure you want that?"

"Dog food it is, then," Xu Liang said, not the least bit offended. "As long as it tastes good, I’d eat it even if you called it pig slop. Oh, and I want roast goose, too, with plum sauce..."

"There’s no plum sauce," Tan You said, feigning a serious expression, but a smile still danced in her eyes. "I’ll make some next year when plums are in season. For today, you’ll have to settle for a different sauce."

As she spoke, she turned to Wen Zhe. "Our meals here are simple. I hope you don’t mind."

"I don’t mind. I’m the one who showed up unannounced and imposed on you." Wen Zhe shook his head. ’Ever since seeing Ji Li,’ he thought, ’nothing has gone according to the script I had in my head.’

’Based on past experience, Ji Li would have comforted me, offered guidance, and tried her best to cheer me up. But now, she’s so cold, telling me bluntly that I should deal with my own emotions instead of burdening others with them.’

’This is completely different from the Ji Li I remember. When did she change? Did this change start around the time I first confessed to Xia Mo and got rejected?’

He just hadn’t noticed it back then. Only now was he truly feeling Tan You’s indifference.

Tan You went into the kitchen to get busy. Xu Liang glanced at Wen Zhe’s sullen face and poured him another cup of tea. "I don’t think I’ve ever heard Ali mention you. Are you two classmates?"

"She’s never mentioned me at all?" Wen Zhe’s lips curled into a self-deprecating smile. "We were very good friends. We were classmates in high school and in the same department in college. All told, we’ve known each other for six years."

"That is a long time," Xu Liang nodded, feigning seriousness. "I heard you just went through a breakup. Did you used to come to her to talk about this kind of stuff often?"

"Yeah," Wen Zhe mumbled noncommittally. Xu Liang could already guess what their past interactions were like. He let out a low chuckle and stopped prying into Wen Zhe’s affairs, content to just hold his cup.

Wen Zhe, however, grew curious. "That ’dog food’ you were talking about... what did you mean by that?"

Xu Liang jutted his chin, gesturing for Wen Zhe to look at the cats and dogs gradually gathering around the old house. "See? Them. There are a lot of strays in the village. Ali has a soft spot for them and couldn’t bear to see them go from feast to famine, so she started feeding them at a set time and place."

Wen Zhe glanced at an orange cat perched on the courtyard wall, lazily licking its paws. "But if you don’t control the population, you’ll soon be overrun with them, won’t you?"

Xu Liang suddenly laughed. "That’s why they both love and fear Ali. After all, when you’re the one who personally ’snips their balls,’ they’re bound to be a little wary."

"’Snips their balls?’" Wen Zhe’s brow furrowed even more. "Does that mean what I think it means?"

"It means exactly what you think it means," Xu Liang said with a grin. "Ali keeps a close watch on them, and when the time is right, she takes them to get neutered. There are far fewer strays in the village now. She’s tackling the birth rate at its source."

"She knows how to do that?" Wen Zhe asked, puzzled. "We both studied engineering, not veterinary medicine..."

"Is it that hard?" Tan You happened to be coming out with ingredients to wash, squatting down by the well. "It’s the kind of thing you learn just by watching it once. There’s an old gentleman in the village who used to work at the livestock station. He knows how to neuter cats and dogs, and I got the hang of it after watching him a few times."

’Besides, Tan You had spent many years in a hospital during her life as Yi Ru, so neutering cats and dogs truly wasn’t difficult in her eyes. Especially when she thought about how vets charged hundreds of dollars for the procedure, there was no way Tan You was going to let someone else pocket that money.’

’To be honest, those veterinarians probably couldn’t even do as good a job as her.’

While Tan You was washing the vegetables, the big orange cat on the wall stopped licking its paws and slowly sat up. Xu Liang took out his phone and quietly started recording. Just as Tan You finished washing the vegetables and started walking toward the kitchen, the orange cat saw its moment and leaped right at her.

Tan You, holding a basin of vegetables in the crook of her arm, caught the big orange cat flawlessly with her left hand. Hoisting up its rear, Tan You frowned. "You’ve put on weight again. As punishment, you’re coming with me for a run down the mountain tonight."

The big orange cat hung from Tan You’s arm like a furry scarf. It let out a delicate meow. ’Fine, I’ll go,’ the cat seemed to think. ’For the sake of her delicious food, this Orange is willing to sell his body.’

After filming the short clip, Xu Liang remarked, "Looks like Big Orange really has gotten heavier. He’s not as nimble as he was last time."

Big Orange let out a lazy meow, completely ignoring Xu Liang. Tan You gave the cat a little bounce in her arm. "Go on, go play. Come back later for dinner."

But Big Orange didn’t leave. Instead, it followed Tan You into the kitchen. With Big Orange leading the charge, more cats soon found their way inside, and a clowder of furballs suddenly appeared on the woodpile behind the stove.

A calico cat was lying on Grandma Shen’s lap. As she stoked the fire, Grandma Shen gently stroked the cat, which would occasionally let out a series of contented purrs.

As the aroma of cooking wafted through the air, the old courtyard grew lively, with more and more animals gathering. Leading them was a large, multi-colored dog. Upon seeing Xu Liang, the dog gave a perfunctory wag of its tail, as if to say hello.

Xu Liang chuckled. "Huahua, brought your whole crew with you?"

The big multi-colored dog let out a single WOOF and lay down about ten feet away from Xu Liang. The other dogs that had followed him immediately did the same, settling down under the eaves.

Xu Liang pointed to an assortment of doghouses in a corner of the yard. "Ali prepared those especially for you. The weather is going to get colder, and you won’t be able to handle sleeping outside. Why don’t you stay the night?"

Huahua remained perfectly still, as if it hadn’t heard a word Xu Liang said.

Wen Zhe asked, "You just keep them like this?"

Xu Liang replied, "It’s just giving them a bite to eat. I’ve been trying to get on Huahua’s good side for ages, but unfortunately, he never gives me the time of day."

"He’d be happier if you didn’t call him Huahua," Tan You said. Having put all the ingredients in the pot, she came out of the kitchen. She beckoned to the large, multi-colored dog. All of its previous aloofness vanished as it trotted over to her in just a few steps.

It sat down quietly in front of Tan You, tilting its head slightly and gazing at her with gentle eyes.